Arizona may have hospitals check citizenship

The crackdown on illegal immigration, is about to take another turn, if Republican lawmakers have their way. An new bill has been proposed that would require hospitals to check on whether patients are in the country legally, causing outrage among medical professionals who fear becoming de facto immigration agents under the law.

The medical industry spoke out against the measure, saying immigrants with contagious diseases such as tuberculosis would stay home from the clinic or hospital and put themselves and the public at a grave health risk.

“This is making us into a police state that will try to catch people when they are sick,” said George Pauk, a retired doctor with an organization called Physicians for a National Health Program. “Do we want to stop sick people from coming in for health care?”

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And Arizona is the first state to take on such legislation, a national push in conservative states to crack down on illegal immigration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Lawmakers really caused a stir last year with the passage of SB 1070, which a judge put certain provisions on hold.

The discussion about the bill comes just days after an illegal immigrant in Texas with a banana-size tumor in her spine said she was ousted from her hospital because of her immigration status. She later found another hospital to get treatment. Supporters say the bill is needed to combat illegal immigration at a time when hospitals lose tens of millions of dollars treating illegal immigrants in emergency rooms.

Senate President Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican says the hospitals bill is part of a broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration. The hospitals bill wouldn’t bar people from getting care, but it would put the onus on hospitals to “do due diligence,” Pearce said. “We’re going to enforce our laws without apology.”

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Pearce further said it’s against the law to aid and abet and that they in Arizona will enforce the law.

Known as Senate Bill 1405, would require hospitals, when admitting nonemergency cases, to confirm that a person seeking care is a U.S. citizen or in the country legally. After the treatment is done, the hospital would be required to call immigration authorities if the patient is illegally here. Hospitals in non-emergency situations would also be required to contact federal immigration authorities, but they would have more apparent discretion about whether to treat illegal immigrants.

Critics say the bill could pose serious health risks to those here legally and illegally. They believe the threat of deportation would keep some people from seeking health care for everything from emergency situations to measures such as vaccinations, potentially leading to preventable deaths.

Nicole Russell is the mother of a 3-year-old daughter named Kira, and she could not envision what it would be like for a parent to decide whether or not to take their child to the hospital for fear of being reported to the authorities.

“I can’t imagine putting the health care of my daughter in the hands of politicians,” she said.

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