Illegal Immigration and Healthcare

There are approximately between seven and twenty million illegal immigrants living in the country today. These people are living in communities, working, and trying to establish themselves as something greater than they could have become in their own native countries. Illegal immigrants have no rights to any of the advantages that this country offers. This is where the issues start. What happens when an illegal immigrant gets sick? How do they get the medicine they need to get better? They have no healthcare insurance and because they are illegal immigrants they have no healthcare benefits from their jobs. Walking into a hospital emergency room is very easy, but there is always fear of being confronted for being an illegal immigrant. Many immigrants end up waiting until it’s completely necessary before seeking medical attention. An article from USA Today, titled Rising Health Care Costs put Focus on Illegal Immigrants, documents the rising healthcare costs that this country faces due to the healthcare needs of illegal immigrants. It discusses the difficulties that immigrants face due to language barriers and an irregular income. The author states, “For many illegal immigrants, the fear of deportation outweighs the pain of illness or injury, so they live with their afflictions rather than seeking help until their health problems become critical. That makes things worse — for them, for hospitals that eventually treat them, and for taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill.” (Wolf Scared To See Doctors Paragraph 1.) This healthcare crisis has become an issue for taxpayers as many of them voice their disapproval of illegal immigrants receiving healthcare. The article discusses the money issue; Steven Camarota of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies states, “offering non-emergency Medicaid to illegal immigrants would be more expensive than leaving them uninsured and in need of occasional hospital care. In those cases, hospitals lose money, and taxpayers pick up the tab,” (as stated in Wolf Political Paragraph 3.) The article discusses the very relevant topic of Illegal Immigrants and the free healthcare that they are receiving. It’s an issue that is highly debated throughout the country that should be addressed in more depth.
After reading T.C. Boyle’s Tortilla Curtain, the author accurately describes the healthcare situation from a perspective of an illegal immigrant. A car in the opening scenes of a novel hits Candido, an illegal immigrant living in Topanga Canyon in southern California. He takes a hard hit, knowing immediately that he is badly injured, but he does not seek medical attention. Candido thinks to himself, “He didn’t need a doctor. He didn’t need to put himself in their hands- his bones would knit, his flesh would heal. What would he say to them? How would he pay? And then when they were done with him the man from La Migra- Immigration- would be standing there with his twenty questions and his clipboard. No he didn’t need a doctor.” (Boyle Page 11 Paragraph 1.) Even though Candido tells himself that he doesn’t need a doctor, he knows otherwise. He fears deportation so he doesn’t put himself in the position where that could happen. This is not similar to what happens in real life though. Hospitals have no choice but to accept everyone who walks into an emergency room. Emergency rooms around the country are filled with illegal immigrants who have no way of paying for the medical attention they receive. These illegal aliens are getting healthcare without paying. I know first hand the frustration that hospitals face when caring for patients who aren’t legal citizens. My dad, a hospital administrator in an area known for its illegal immigrant population, complains constantly about the bills that the hospital faces for taking on these patients. It causes hospitals to go into debt. He complains for the doctors who treat these patients and don’t receive the payment they deserve. Although I agree with my dads point, that illegal immigrants receiving healthcare isn’t fair to the taxpayers and hospitals, I think action needs to be taken so these people do receive necessary medical attention.
Illegal immigrants make up a large part of our countries population. They fill job roles that ordinary citizens would refuse to take. The jobs they do help communities and cities run smoothly. Without these citizens many jobs wouldn’t be filled and necessary tasks wouldn’t get performed. I think that because these people do contribute to the bettering of their communities that they should have a haven to go and receive medical attention. Whether it’s a clinic that opens once a month or a local physician that keeps his office open late, its important for the communities that are being supported by these illegal immigrants help them stay healthy and well. It is vital that illegal immigrants receive some sort of healthcare so they can continue on pursuing their dreams and contributing to the community.

Wolf, Richard. “Rising Health Care Costs put Focus on Illegal Immigrants”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm