Disabled teen spends 48 days in ICE custody, despite pleas from mom
Plus: Republicans say disabled American children will not lose Medicaid coverage; Arizona parents grapple with looming cuts to disability services; and a state senator recoils at Trump's use of r-word
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Medical Motherhood’s news round up
Snippets of news and opinion from outlets around the world. Click the links for the full story.
• From IndyStar: “Indiana senator says he’s a no on redistricting after Trump uses slur”
A Northern Indiana Republican announced Nov. 28 that he will vote against Indiana redistricting following President Donald Trump’s use of a slur in a Thanksgiving social media post.
Trump’s Nov. 27 Truth Social post ‒ one in a series of anti-immigrant comments posted Thursday ‒ referred to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the “r-word.” Though the word was formerly used in medical contexts, it’s now widely regarded as offensive, and disability advocates seek to end its use.
“Those of you that don’t know me or my family might not know that my daughter has Down Syndrome,” state Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, wrote on Facebook. “This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences.”
[…]The [Indiana state] House is scheduled to convene Dec. 1 to discuss a new map, and the Senate is set to vote Dec. 8. Both chambers would have to pass a measure to send it to Gov. Mike Braun to be signed into law.[…]
• From FOX News: “Republicans, health experts push back on Democrats' Medicaid ‘scare tactics’
Even before the conflict over Obamacare subsidies that resulted in a month-and-a-half-long government shutdown, Democrats were already attacking Republicans over their reforms to the federal public health insurance infrastructure, which has expanded over many years.
Democrats say the GOP’s cuts were put in place to give tax breaks to the wealthy, and serve to raise people’s premiums and kick them off their coverage. But Republicans, free-market health policy experts and a disability advocate argue these are “scare tactics” used to deceive the public about what Republicans are really trying to do to Medicaid.
[…]Democrats are also upset with provisions that impact how states get reimbursed for certain healthcare coverage via the federal government. Republicans have argued that Democratic states, like California, have been using funding loopholes in this framework so that federal dollars can help them pay for the ballooning cost of covering health insurance for non-U.S. citizens.
[…]However, Paragon Health Institute President Brian Blase argues these changes serve to “rightfully refocus” Medicaid, not ruin it.
“It requires able-bodied, working-age adults to work, go to school, or volunteer to receive benefits. It cracks down on corporate-welfare schemes that direct billions of dollars to wealthy, politically connected insurers and hospitals,” Blase said. “And it reduces waste, fraud, and abuse that divert resources from those that truly need it.”
Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said point-blank that “members of the traditional Medicaid population will not lose coverage due to this law,” while slamming the “left-wing media” for perpetuating attacks on Republicans.[…]
• From the Arizona Mirror via the Tucson Sentinel: “Arizona disability service policies revised, but confusion & fear remain as cuts loom”
Families and advocates won many of the concessions they fought for after Arizona’s Medicaid program enacted huge cuts to services for developmentally disabled children.
But even though they’re on hold for now, cuts are still coming — and the lengthy and acronym-filled documents that detail the new byzantine policy changes are leaving some parents struggling to understand what cuts are being made and how they will affect their families.
[…]Kathleen Muldoon, a disability advocate who relies on the Parents as Paid Caregivers program to care for her son while keeping her job as a medical school professor, was skeptical of the policy amendments.
“There are still age caps that will limit hours to kids who truly need them based on disability, but now there is a process for exceptional review,” she told the Mirror. “My prediction is that the system will be backed up with all the families asking for exceptional review.[“]
[…]Even with the policy changes, cuts are still inevitable as the state struggles to rein in the increasing costs of habilitation and attendant care services through DDD.
Altogether, DDD spent $77 million on attendant care and habilitation services for those under 18 in 2019. That cost rose to $380 million in 2024 and $614 million in 2025.[…]
• From The Barbed Wire via The 19th: “A disabled child’s mom reported him missing. He was in federal custody for 48 days.”
Maria Garcia couldn’t bear to attend the nightly meals near Triangle Lake, where for several weeks, the smell of pinto beans, turkey necks, and other soul food staples filled the air outside a federal children’s detention facility in southeast Houston.
The Southern home-cooked meals had become a supportive ritual, one that Garcia appreciated but was too difficult for her to take part in. Garcia’s son, who has an intellectual disability, remained locked inside for 48 days. Other mothers of children with neurological and development disorders stepped in [to host the nightly vigil].
[…]In early October, Emmanuel walked away from his mom’s fruit stand to find a bathroom. Garcia looked for him all over the city, and after several hours of coming up empty handed, she filed a missing person’s report with the Houston Police Department.
The boy was found by Houston firefighters nearly 24 hours later. But instead of reuniting him with his mom, the police department turned him over to immigration authorities, and Emmanuel ended up in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), where he remained for 48 days, despite his mother’s pleas for him to be released into her care.
[…]During [a] city council meeting, [Houston Police Chief J. Noe] Diaz questioned whether Emmanuel was autistic or not. But school records indicate there’s no question the young teen shows signs of a disability. That’s why Rae and the other mothers in Autism Moms of Houston began holding nightly dinners with Emmanuel at the park bench across the street.
“The city could have a little bit of compassion and move him into a facility that is going to take care of him properly so the mother and the son can, at the very least, be together while they sort out whatever is going,” Rae added, noting that it was clear the Garcia family had been caught in the crossfire of escalating tensions “on a political scale that has nothing to do with either one of these two individuals.”
[…At a press conference at Emmanuel’s release, mother and son answered questions in front of the cameras.] To other moms, Garcia said: “No tengamos miedo, hablemos, luchemos por nuestros hijos, no nos quedemos callados en ninguna situación que sea, busquemos ayuda.”
“Don’t be afraid,” she said.
“We need to fight for our children,” she continued. “Don’t stay quiet no matter what the situation. Ask for help.” […]
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