California has enacted new rules aimed at strengthening protections for patients at health care facilities.

Health care providers are increasingly alarmed over aggressive immigration enforcement activity in and around clinics and hospitals.

Legal experts say California can’t stop federal immigration authorities from carrying out such actions in hospital lobbies and health facility parking lots.

In recent months, federal agents camped out in the lobby of a Southern California hospital, guarded detained patients — sometimes shackled — in hospital rooms , and chased an immigrant landscaper into a surgical center.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents also have shown up at community clinics. Health providers say officers tried to enter a parking lot hosting a mobile cli

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