MAGA Fallout: One story at a time

Proposed Medicaid cuts could jeopardize the health care coverage and support on which the mother and her young daughter depend.
Push to reduce Medicaid funding.
Becca describes her daughter Ella as “beautiful, strong, silly, smart and sassy.” Even with a good job, she depends on Medicaid to cover her daughter’s needs, from therapies to feeding supplies. She fears losing that support.

Deported to a place she’s never been without children or a job
Renewed Trump-era immigration enforcement targeting Southeast Asian refugees with decades-old deportation orders
Pa Kou Thao came to Wisconsin as a child refugee in 1987 after being born in a Thai camp. She grew up in South Milwaukee, graduated high school, worked as a pharmacy tech, and raised her four children. After an old theft conviction from more than 20 years ago, she lived under an order of supervision and regularly checked in with ICE. In 2025, she was suddenly detained at a routine appointment and deported to a country she had never set foot in, leaving behind her U.S.-born children, her job, and her home. In Laos, she has no citizenship, no family, no money, and no ability to speak the language fluently. Her teenage son in Milwaukee now worries constantly about her safety.

Lost access to treatment
Lack of legal due process in deportations even when U.S. citizen children need urgent medical care
The family was traveling to Houston for the girl’s rare brain cancer follow-up when they were stopped at an ICE/CBP checkpoint near the Texas–Mexico border. Despite presenting birth certificates and doctor’s letters, they were detained overnight and forced to choose between leaving the children in U.S. custody or being deported together. They left together and were dropped off on the Mexico side, separated from the U.S. medical system. The girl’s brain swelling and mobility worsened, and her teenage brother’s treatment for long‑QT syndrome also halted. The family now lives in a rural Mexican village without adequate care, housing, or safety.

Detained without due process, left stranded despite disability.
Brutal immigration enforcement practices and mass interior raids led ICE to detain U.S. citizens based on racial profiling and loose suspicion
Julio, a U.S. citizen with a learning disability, was arrested without probable cause while picking up a pizza. ICE agents grabbed him from behind and stuffed him in a van. Despite having his Social Security card and driver’s license, he was held for 10 hours with no food, water, bathroom, or questions about citizenship. He was released late at night and dropped on the street without assistance or documentation, stranded and vulnerable.

Detention without due process, physical abuse
Brutal immigration enforcement practices marked by racial profiling, unlawful detention, and flagrant disregard for constitutional and human rights
Jason was stopped during raids in his hometown simply for appearing Hispanic. Even after proving he was an American citizen, agents subjected him to humiliation and force before releasing him. They twisted his arm while demanding he answer questions like “What hospital were you born at?” before acknowledging his citizenship.

Lost job
Massive federal budget cuts and contract reductions
Joseph Revard of Seattle, Washington, worked at a non-profit which provided support and referrals for mental health, substance abuse and problem gambling, he said – until his position was eliminated due to grant withdrawals from the state health department in response to federal cuts. “We work with mostly individuals who are on the state Medicaid program,” said Revard, 67. “These are disenfranchised individuals for a large part, who mean nothing to Donald Trump or Elon Musk.”

Underemployment, fear of financial ruin and death
Deep cuts to federal social program funding and the elimination of grants
Amy, a semi-retired grant writer, said their work had dried up through a contractor in Washington DC due to federal funding and grant cuts. “We do nothing extravagant. No travel. Rarely eat out. Modest living. But I am seeing my work dry up. I need to make about $15,000 a year to cover our expenses that go beyond what we can pay using my husband’s pension and our social security.” Wachspress and her husband are particularly concerned about cuts to social security benefits. Without them, she said, they would lose their house. Her husband relies on Medicare for treating diabetes and several chronic health conditions.

Near-death due to abortion ban
His appointment of conservative justices led to overturning Roe v. Wade, empowering states like Texas to enact near-total abortion bans and restrict exceptions even in medical crises
Pregnant with twins, Miller was diagnosed with multiple fatal fetal abnormalities (e.g., Trisomy 18) and severe hyperemesis gravidarum. Texas’s abortion ban resulted in doctors refusing life-saving care, putting her at risk of kidney failure, brain swelling, coma, and possibly death. She eventually traveled out of state to Colorado for a selective reduction to protect her health. Miller’s case received national attention because doctors deemed her condition serious but not “imminently life-threatening” under Texas law, making them legally unable to intervene. She was hospitalized multiple times, reportedly risking severe complications. Once out of state, the medical intervention saved her life.

“One day they are there,” said Maria Jose Padmore, a human services assistant for Fairfax County in Virginia. “And the next day, I’m looking for my coworker, and he’s gone because their Temporary Protected Status expired. Forget about the fact that I now have to share my coworkers’ job. Let’s think about my coworkers’ family: how are they going to put food on their table?”

At a Kraft-Heinz plant in Holland, Michigan, workers were mandated to work extreme overtime after longtime employees lost immigration authorization. “We had people there for 20 years, and all of a sudden they get notification their immigration authorization is revoked,” said Tomas Torres, a maintenance mechanic of 13 years, and president of RWDSU Local 705. Torres has been working 12- to 14-hour days—part of a first shift, all of a second shift, and part of a third shift. “I’m tired. And you catch people falling asleep on the line, and it’s a big safety issue,” he added. “All of this that has happened has affected everybody at the plant. It’s crazy, because I hear people complain every single day.”

Cerebral palsy patient lost access to care
Federal Medicaid reimbursement cuts to Planned Parenthood
Cameron has spastic quadriplegia, a severe form of cerebral palsy that impacts his ability to control movement in his legs and arms. His speech is limited. He lost access to his primary care provider when his local Planned Parenthood closed, leaving him without specialized care previously covered under Medicaid. He found himself without a doctor after clinics in surrounding cities shut down, jeopardizing his chronic care regimen. Care by the team at the Santa Cruz Westside location allows Cameron to stay at home, rather than in a nursing home. At home, he excels as a talented artist using pastels to sketch out colorful octopuses and flower portraits that adorn the walls. He has his own room, decked out in Giants gear.

Lost access to cancer screenings
Medicaid defunding of clinics, leading to closures across California
Gisela lost access to cancer screenings and preventive care when nearby Planned Parenthood clinics closed due to funding cuts. Jimenez has diabetes, gastritis, sleep apnea and other chronic conditions her doctor there has helped her manage over the last five years. She cried out in frustration learning the facility closed. Gisela now struggles to find alternative clinics that accept Medi-Cal, facing long wait times and travel distances, reducing opportunities for early detection and treatment.

Pregnant mom died
Abortion bans following Dobbs led states to struggle to recruit and retain qualified OB-GYN providers, forcing hospitals to close maternity wards
On Oct. 10, 2023, just months after 26-year-old Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski got pregnant with her second child, she came home from work cramping badly. Afraid that something had gone wrong with the pregnancy, her husband Clayton Sobieski called Taysha's mom to bring her to the hospital while he stayed home with their one-year child. Clayton carried Taysha downstairs to the car and they said goodbye. That would be the last time she spoke to him. Closest hospital had closed its labor and delivery unit a few weeks before and had no physician who could care for her. She was transferred to another center where she died two days later. Her death certificate listed her cause of death as a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and its complication. "Every doctor who talked to me said it's a timing thing and they didn't treat her in time," Clayton said. She was "the nicest person ever," he said. A teddy bear that she loved sits in Reid's room, wearing a Hufflepuff costume, an outfit from the Harry Potter franchise.

Closing rural hospitals
Medicaid underpayment, private insurer reimbursement rates, and stagnant rural healthcare funding, amplified during Trump administration, led to persistent financial instability for rural hospitals
Barbara's husband had bladder cancer and needed frequent care. With the only local hospital closed, each visit required long travel – nearly 2 hours.