Anti-Immigration Patients Bill Defeated
Posted May 28, 2004
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on May 18, 2004 against a bill that would have required hospitals to report undocumented immigrants seeking emergency medical care to the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Legislature. Under the terms of the bill, failure to report would have resulted in a potential loss of federal funding. A bill must normally pass both Houses of Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and then be signed by the President of the United States in order to become a federal law. Since this bill, H.R. 3722, was not passed by the House of Representatives, it will not be sent to the Senate or the President and is now not expected to become law.
The final vote on the bill was 331 Representatives against the bill versus 88 Representatives in favor of the bill. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) reported that 2,460 letters opposing the bill were sent through their Contact Congress feature alone. United States citizens not only have the privilege and obligation to vote but also to let their Representatives and Senators know the issues that are important to them. When they do, bills such as H.R. 3722, that seek to prevent immigrants or others from being able to obtain emergency medical care, are more likely to be defeated. Although there are valid concerns about financial liability issues with treating those without medical insurance, the overall cost to our economy would be greater were we to deny medical care to those who do not have a valid status or proof of valid status at the time that a medical emergency strikes.
There are likely several reasons for the overwhelming response against the bill. Few U.S. citizens would be in the position to document their own status in a medical emergency. Immigrants may be fearful of getting necessary medical attention for themselves or their children, many of whom are U.S. citizens, if they have to fear the possibility of being reported. In addition to the obvious humanitarian considerations, this poses a potentially serious health risk to the general U.S. population.
We are hopeful that the defeat of this bill will end similar efforts to detect immigration violations through the health care system or by other, similar means.
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