Illegal immigration -- we can't afford it

[LyndaJensen]

Being the wife of a cop, I am a firm believer in following the law...if the law needs changing, then by all means change it. But as it stands, I've heard enough about illegal immigration and I've come to the conclusion that taxpayers simply can't afford to fund the medical and education costs associated with illegal immigrants. It's simple economics -- you can't maintain a system where some pay for the care of so many others who don't pay into the system. I'm also not crazy about a group of people who are willing to work for nothing at all, because this is something that legal citizens can't compete with. We also can't afford to have our borders be so porous that we don't even know who is passing through.

The following was submitted by a third party and verified by Snopes.com:
Parkland Hospital in Dallas , Texas is a fairly famous institution and for a variety of reasons:
1. John F. Kennedy died there in 1963;
2. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after; and,
3. Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, died there a few years later, by coincidence.

On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second busiest maternity ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies arriving each year. (That's almost 44 per day --- every day.)

A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants. That's 11,200 anchor babies born every year just in Dallas.

According to a Dallas Morning News article, the hospital spent $70.7 million delivering 15,938 babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8 million dollars in surplus funding. Medicaid kicked in $34.5 million, Dallas County taxpayers kicked in $31.3 million and the feds tossed in another $9.5 million.

The average patient in Parkland maternity wards is 25 years old, married and giving birth to her second child. She is also an illegal immigrant. By law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care based on their immigration status or ability to pay.

OK, fine. That doesn't mean they should receive better care than everyday, middle-class American citizens. But at Parkland Hospital , they do. Parkland Memorial Hospital has nine prenatal clinics. NINE!

The Dallas Morning News article followed a Hispanic woman who was a patient at one of the clinics and pregnant with her third child --- her previous two was also born at Parkland . Her first two deliveries were free and the Mexican native was grateful because it would have cost ... $200 to have them in Mexico.

This time, the hospital wants her to pay $10 per visit and $100 for the delivery but she was unsure if she could come up with the money. Not that it matters, the hospital won't turn her away. (I wonder why they even bother asking at this point.)

How long has this been going on? What are the long-term affects?

Well, another subject of the article was born at Parkland in 1986 shortly after her mother entered the US illegally. Now she is having her own child there as well. (That's right, she's technically a U.S. citizen.)

These women receive free prenatal care including medication, nutrition, birthing classes and child care classes. They also get freebies such as car seats, bottles, diapers and formula.

Most of these things are available to American citizens as well but only for low-income applicants and even then, the red tape involved is almost insurmountable.

Because these women are illegal immigrants, they do not have to provide any sort of legitimate identification or any proof of income. An American citizen would have to provide a social security number which would reveal their annual income. An illegal immigrant needs only to claim to be poor and the hospital must take them at their word.

Parkland Hospital offers indigent care to Dallas County residents who earn less than $40,000 per year (They also have to prove that they did not refuse health coverage at their current job. Yeah, the 'free' care is not so easy for Americans.)

There are about 140 patients who received roughly $4 million dollars for un-reimbursed medical care. As it turns out, they did not qualify for free treatment because they resided outside of Dallas County so the hospital is going to sue them!

Illegal immigrants get it all free! But U.S. citizens who live outside of Dallas County get sued! How stupid is this?
As if that isn't annoying enough ...

Illegal immigrant patients are actually complaining about hospital staff not speaking Spanish.

In this AP story, the author speaks with a woman who is upset that she had to translate comments from the hospital staff into Spanish for her husband. The doctor was trying to explain the situation to the family and the mother was forced to translate for her husband who only spoke Spanish. This was apparently a great injustice to her.

In an attempt to create a Spanish-speaking staff, Parkland Hospital is now providing incentives in the form of extra pay for applicants who speak Spanish. Additionally, medical students at the University of Texas Southwestern , for which Parkland Hospital is the training facility, will now have a Spanish language requirement added to their already jammed-packed curriculum. No other school in the country boasts such a ridiculous multi-semester (multicultural) requirement.

(Sorry for the length, but I think this needs wide circulation, particularly to our 'employees' in Congress.)

Remember that this is only ONE hospital in Dallas , Texas. There must be many more hospitals across our country that also have to deal with this.

If you want to verify accuracy:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/parkland.asp

[Citizen]

Great report!

I cannot fathom how these policies get passes. It goes that way with most social systems. The hard working people that make something of themselves are forever penalized by our government.

It just makes no sense at all.

[mod34]

Anchor babies is a farce, people really need to read the 14th amendment and tell me how that child is a citizen. Congress needs to wake up and make english the official language. Then everything to do with Gov't services will only be printed in english. I have no problems with any immigrant as long as they are here legally. I heard a report that the drivers liscense exam can be taken in many different languages, if they can't read to take the test how do we know they can read traffic signs.

[jenkki]

Yes by all means PLEASE read the 14th amendment to the USA! Not against immigration? Are you implying that all immigrants that we receive should be only fluent English speakers? Tourists that come to our country are allowed to drive with their international drivers licences...is there a difference between the two groups, immigrants should not be allowed but tourists can...by the way, I am also an immigrant, and most traffic signs I see are symbols.

The Illegal immigration story is worn out…ICE does not care and does nothing about it, the President does not care nor did he do anything about it, why not make them legal and it’s end of story for a few years.

[Citizen]

Jenkki,
The way I see it, the drivers license issue is not about driving. Its about being issued an official state ID. Go ahead and drive all you want on your international drivers license.

[jenkki]

I am not a lawyer, but the 14th states very clearly (in my opinion)

Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The Court has accorded the first sentence of Sec. 1 a construction in accordance with the congressional intentions, holding that a child born in the United States of Chinese parents who themselves were ineligible to be naturalized is nevertheless a citizen of the United States entitled to all the rights and privileges of citizenship.

To me this implies two issues, first...anyone born in the USA is a citizen...second, we cannot deny e.g. health care for any person who needs it...I believe the US has also signed international treaties to this effect...

Actually I do not have an international license...but millions of them that come here to spend their hard earned euros or yen etc...do use them and their money is welcomed....remember tourism jobs will never be set overseas, they are here to stay.

[HikingStick]

I'm the son of a legal immigrant. I oppose illegal immigration. I am frustrated, however, with people dealing with the symptom rather than the problem.

People who come here illegally are seeking the same benefits most of our forefathers sought (e.g., economic opportunity, greater liberty), but they have done so outside the law. While I want to see an end to illegal immigration, I also believe that we need to fix the agencies and processes that are supposed to facilitate legal immigration. I have a friend from Ecuador who has wanted to have his brother visit him here in the United States. That brother has applied for his visa more than eight years ago, but his request has not yet been reviewed, much less approved. In this case, thankfully, that brother waits patiently for permission to enter this country. Does it help any of you understand why others may simply disregard the formal process to come by any means (not that it makes such actions right)?

The poet Emma Lazarus wrote "New Colossus" which is inscribed within the base of the Statue of Liberty. That poem reads:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

[emphasis added]

By all means, work toward legal immigration, but don't expect illegal immigration to stop until we are able to process and admit those who wish to come here in a timely manner.

Sincerely,

The proud son of a naturalized U.S. citizen,

HikingStick

P.S. Jenkki, I have one point of correction for you. It is the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the U.S.A., not "the 14th amendment to the USA".

[jenkki]

Good point, stick, it’s a perfect example of the fingers and brain refusing to work together. It's like they say, "Remember, if your mind goes blank, don't forget to turn off the sound"

[mod34]

Exactly, must be born inand subject to the jurisdiction of. An illegal is not a subject of the jurisdiction. Therefore not a citizen. I'm not against immigration only illegal immigration.

[jenkki]

I think I am missing the point somewhere. The topic of "so called anchor babies" implies that those who give birth here, be it someone here illegally or otherwise passing through, (tourist or someone on a working visa) have the thought in mind that their child is a US citizen. In reality are these children citizens or not? Are they actually in a legal way given citizenship papers? (Is there such a thing) I am assuming that they are since they have been given the name “anchor baby”.