Let’s begin with an example. Kirill Vodyanov, an alcoholic with advanced heart and liver disease and no chance of getting treatment in his native Russian backwater, came to America on a guest visa. He remained in the United States when his visa expired, joining the 12 million-strong army of the undocumented. He worked at one of the many “Russian” businesses and did not pay taxes. One day on his way to work, he pretended to get sick and fainted dramatically. He was taken by ambulance to a city hospital, where he had an operation – for free, since he did not have any means of support. He then underwent intensive treatment. Finally, Vodyanov ended up in a nursing home attached to the hospital and has been stuck there for a long time.
Here’s another example: Jose Arias, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was arrested for dealing cocaine. He spent time behind bars and was then deported. But he soon contrived to reenter the United States, where he proceeded to break the law again. This time he was accused of dealing drugs and of illegal reentry. But instead of being deported again, Arias was sentenced to five years in prison.
America is known as a generous and hospitable country that opens its doors to the poor, the abject and the afflicted. Unfortunately, though, people frequently take advantage of this hospitality at the expense of honest American taxpayers.
The question of who should pay for medical treatment for undocumented immigrants in locally-funded medical facilities and for their stays in American prisons has been at the center of our society for many years. These are essentially two large questions, but they have a common denominator.
The federal Law of Compassionate Entry requires hospitals to treat undocumented immigrants who are seriously ill or injured, who have been in an accident, etc. But since most undocumented people earn next to nothing and do not have health insurance, they are treated for free, costing hospitals a colossal amount of money. It is true that Emergency Medicaid does pay for services provided to undocumented immigrants for a limited amount of time and that hospitals have the right to extend the program when necessary. But sooner or later the hospital will end up treating a sick undocumented immigrant without compensation. If the latter ends up in a nursing home, a service Medicaid does not cover, then uncompensated care can continue for years.
Add to this undocumented immigrants who give birth in American hospitals (according to some figures, this amounts to 70 percent of births in many locally-funded hospitals), and undocumented immigrants who go to emergency rooms with various problems, and you will get an idea of what a heavy burden treating the undocumented is for medical facilities.
According to a study conducted several years ago, 67 percent of counties in the United States listed treating undocumented immigrants as the main reason for an increase in losses at locally-funded hospitals. Other data show that medical services provided to undocumented immigrants at all locally-funded hospitals in the United States cost over $2 billion a year.
Of course, most patients who are undocumented immigrants are honest hard workers who strive to come to America so that they can feed their children. They pay their taxes without fail and have no desire whatsoever to end up in a hospital. But there are, unfortunately, people like Kirill Vodyanov, who come to the United States for the specific purpose of gaining access to medical care that cannot be obtained in their native countries. Sometimes, hospitals take extreme measures to get rid of undocumented immigrants as quickly as possible, including buying plane tickets for them and an accompanying nurse to their native countries.
A federal law passed in 2005 has eased somewhat the plight of hospitals. Under this law, which will remain in effect until September 2008, Washington has appropriated $1 billion for hospitals and doctors who help undocumented immigrants. The largest amounts went to the states that attract the most immigrants: California received $70.8 million; Texas got $46 million; Arizona received $45 million; New York got $12.3 million; Illinois received $10.3 million; Florida got $8.7 million; and New Mexico got $5.1 million. Nevertheless, treating the undocumented remains a serious financial problem for locally-funded hospitals. Services provided to undocumented immigrants in California cost the state over $500 million a year. This is seven times greater than the amount allocated to the state by the federal government.
It is equally expensive for local governments to keep undocumented immigrants in prisons. The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) requires the federal government to absorb the expenses of holding undocumented immigrants accused of one felony or two misdemeanors in local prisons. But these funds hardly compensate local governments for the money they spend. This is especially true for New York.
According to data published by Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman in early March, his county spent $8.5 million on 660 undocumented immigrants arrested in 2006. The federal government reimbursed the county only $2.6 million. Suffolk County spends $12 million a year on undocumented immigrants who have been arrested and receives no more than $1.75 million back from the federal government.
Interestingly enough, the White House budget for 2009 envisaged the complete abolishment of SCAAP. The Bush administration explained that it intends to use the funds for this program to make the border more secure. But the Senate was able to convince the White House that abolishing SCAAP would result in huge losses for state governments (according to Charles Schumer (D-NY), New York State alone could stand to lose $54.7 million a year). Last week, the program was allocated an additional $950 million.
It appears Washington has also taken another measure to solve the problem. It has allocated Immigration and Customs Enforcement $200 million so that the agency can work with local governments and prison administrations to scour prisons for undocumented immigrants who were deported but somehow managed to reenter the United States. Unfortunately, there are many such “serial undocumenteds.” And while there are certainly many people among them who came to America out of poverty and desperation, some of these offenders are members of bloody gangs, professional criminals and drug dealers. Remarkably, some have been deported repeatedly and continue to doggedly return to America.
One Julio Cesar Mata-Sosa, a member of the Radford Street Gang in Los Angeles, was deported seven times between 1998 and 2006. His criminal resume includes robbery, car theft and dealing cocaine. Another detainee with a record, Ascension Hernandez-Perez, a member of the Valerio Street Gang, who deported seven times between 1999 and 2004. His list of crimes includes robbery, spousal abuse, child abuse, and threats to commit a terrorist act.
Until recently, people accused of undocumented reentry were deported immediately. Now they are tried and generally sentenced to three to five years in prison, although they are sometimes given sentences of up to 20 years. This is why Washington’s campaign to uncover people accused of undocumented reentry is unlikely to ease the burden on prisons and why “serial undocumenteds” will return to prison, saddling local governments and/or the federal government – in essence, American taxpayers – with the cost.
Like many other problems associated with undocumented immigrants, providing medical treatment for undocumented immigrants and keeping them in prisons can only be resolved when comprehensive immigration reform is genuinely achieved. Among other things, reform will help separate the wheat from the chafe, meaning the honest and well-meaning undocumented from the con artists and the criminals.
