Illegal immigrant deported - thoughts?

[ORMom2Four]

I think that he should have been sent home BEFORE $1.5 million was spent on him, once they realized he needed more than a night or two in the hospital.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I can honestly see it both ways. On the one hand, he was simply a man trying to support his family. How many of us can't identify with that? Regardless of his status, he is still a person. A person with friends and family who obviously care. Part of me feels like everybody should be entitled to appropriate medical treatment.

On the other hand, he was here illegally and that is a lot of resources being used that they will not recoup. My mom works in a hospital. For a long time they were actually making a profit (and they are considered a very good hospital). Now with all the uninsured they are losing money. Everybody was required to take a 40 hour unpaid furlough to help balance the budget. The next step is lay-offs. One of the great things about my mom's hospital is that they have their own lab and microbiology department which means faster results and better treatment. My mom is a microbiologist and one way they are talking about cutting costs is getting rid of micro completely and outsourcing to another lab which means that results will take a lot longer and my mom is out of a job. This is just one example of how the increasing burden of uninsured is affecting hospitals and families. There are many stories like my family's all over the hospital. Hearing that the amount of money that could easily save our micro department was spent on an illegal immigrant is had to stomach.

I do not believe that the hospital should have taken it upon themselves to deport him however. They should have gone through the proper channels the second they realized he was illegal. In an attempt to save money, they probably just lost a lot. $30,000 chartered flight? That was a total waste of resources. They said that the appeals would have been costly. Well, now they are facing a lawsuit which means they are going through the process anyway. If the man wins, it will probably cost them a lot more than if they had just reported it and worked with the government. The hospital is not judge and jury, and I do not think they should be taking the law into their hands.

 

[Mermaid02]

$30,000 is NOTHING compared to his continued care. Good Bye!

 

[Piglets Mommy]

He was here ILLEGALLY...he should have been deported long ago. We have enough US Citizens, and others who ARE here LEGALLY to support, and we are in a huge economic crisis. We can't continue to support ILLEGAL immigrants!

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

But add that to the cost of the lawyers, appeals, and possible settlement. They did it to save money by avoiding appeals but they are going to have to go through it all anyway. Why didn't they just report it in 2000 when they started caring for him?

 

[penguin087]

He is ILLEGAL! A FELON according to the laws of this land. Once you are caught here illegally you should be sent home the same day or in his case stablized and sent home asap. No other option!
An uninsured American citizen wouldn't get the level of care he got. Thats the part that is outrageous.

 

[bookgirl]

This is one of the few issues where I go from center left to right politically. If you come here illegally, you have no right to the same protections under the law as citizens. He recieved emergency care. As soon as he was stable he should have been deported, in a coma or not. He should have been sent back.


And Personally if this cousin was declared his legal guardian, then the hospital should be sueing him to recoup medical care.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

This is a subject that really burns my britches!! I believe that the hospital went way above and beyond what they should have in caring for this guy.

DH and I pay a lot of money OOP every month to ensure that our family has good health insurance. Whenever we go to the Dr. or hospital we end up paying even more OOP. We are hit from every direction because we have the means and insurance to pay. What we end up paying is even higher because we have to subsidize illegal immigrants care when they have no insurance....how is that fair?

Just yesterday I saw a memo from Social Services that stated they were seeing reduced costs for having to pay interpreters to help them serve the Spanish speaking community. Apparently, some gov't policy recently changed that significanly impacts the food and nutrition monies that illegals are receiving. So, we (tax payers) have been paying for them to receive SS benefits and free interpreters because they can't speak English!!

I strongly believe that the fiscal crisis that CA is currently experiencing is (in part) being caused by illegal immigration. I think that their human services budgets have been overwhelmed because of the demand it has caused. I have heard that there are hospitals in TX that are closing because they can't afford to operate due to the number of illegals (with no insurance) they have to see.

Something has to be done about this situation!! headache:Sorry for the rant, but I feel really strongly about this subject).

 

[honugirl]

Good for the hospital! He should have been sent back several years ago when he was first stable from his injuries. I pay OOP for my health insurance because I need it. It's expensive, but I can't live without it so I do it. This guy spends nothing, sends all his money back to his family in Guatemala and gets $1.5 mil in free care.

 

[MrsPete]

Ok, I'm going to be politically incorrect. My basic problem with illegial immigrants is that there are 1000's of people who are trying to come here legally and it just pisses in their face when illegials start demanding "rights"
Basically I'm a play by the rules type of gal. Yes I know some times people bend the rules but for the most part, I think society and disneyworld break down when people decide they don't have to follow the rules.

Good for the hospital, why should they foot the bill for some one who is not a citizen?

Personally, I get really hung up on the word ILLEGAL. You know, against the law. How can we as a society condone ILLEGAL behavior? I'm not against people coming here, but use the LEGAL avenues.

 

[eliza61]

I can honestly see it both ways. On the one hand, he was simply a man trying to support his family. How many of us can't identify with that? Regardless of his status, he is still a person. A person with friends and family who obviously care. Part of me feels like everybody should be entitled to appropriate medical treatment.

.

The problem is Eeyore is that he's doing it illegially. For example, since my dh got laid off, does that give him the right to go out and rob a bank to support his family? I mean, all of us here probably have family and friends and love one's but we have to play by the rules. Every one here is probably effected by this economy, do we now have the right to rob grocery stores to support our families. Believe me, I live in a state with almost 10% unemployment, where families are losing homes and forget trying to get medical care. it's heart breaking. One of my coworkers has a bad heart, he lives in constant fear that he will get laid off and no way can he afford his heart medicine (over 18K a year).

I'm not saying that to trot out a sad story, but we must stop making excuses for breaking the law. I will help any one who wants to come here honestly and legally. I'll teach them english, help them get around, fill out paper work but I cannot support illegal immigration and I'm sure they are great people.

 

[Beca]

The question is....why wasn't he deported when he was stable enough to go home? Who makes these rules on who can ask to be shown proof of citizenship, and who cannot? I mean, it is my understanding that schools cannot ask to see proof of citizenship, police officers cannot ask to see proof of citizenship...only ICE officers who are few and far between.

To me, the absurd thing is not that he was sent home, but that he was not sent home almost immediately!! Illegal is illegal. If we cannot protect our borders, and send a message to the world that we choose not to....how are we supposed to protect ourselves from those who would sneak in here to harm us? Not to mention those who would sneak in here to benefit from our social programs. As a country, we really need to gain control of this.

 

[KathyTX]

We don't do political threads any longer... closing this one.