Detainees at facilities including the Buffalo Federal Detention Center have faced delayed or denied medical treatment since ICE stopped paying external medical providers on October 3, 2025, after the Department of Veterans Affairs abruptly ended its decades-old agreement to process these payments following criticism from activists who falsely claimed immigrants were diverting veterans' resources. Eleven months later, ICE still has no system to pay for outside care, leaving providers like UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital owed more than $4 million for 150 detainee hospital admissions and visits, and Moshannon Valley EMS in Pennsylvania unpaid for 43 ambulance calls to a detention center since October 2025. The VA had processed over $246 million in claims for detainee medical care in 2024 before ending the arrangement, even though ICE had been fully reimbursing the VA for the service.