New AZ Bill Requires Hospitals to Check Citizenship
Because we promised to keep an eye on it for you, here’s a quick look at the latest immigration nonsense coming from Arizona.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing today on a bill that would require hospitals to check patients’ immigration status.
It’s called sb1405, and here are a few highlights:
- It would require hospitals to confirm an individual is a legal resident before admitting him or her for non-emergency care.
- The hospital would have to notify federal immigration officers if the individual was not in the country legally.
- It would allow hospitals to provide emergency care to illegal immigrants, but it would require them to report the individuals once the care was completed.
I’m assuming that the lawmakers who proposed these bills understand the long-term effect. This type of bill, if approved and signed into law, will cause public health risks because the undocumented will avoid hospitals. Also, those that have treatable, preventive ailments will wait until their deteriorating health is an emergency, when the hospitals cannot turn them away and when it will cost the taxpayers more money than a preventive medical visit. I’m sure the bill’s sponsors understand this.
The obvious questions, at this point, are will the hospital staff ask for citizenship verification from all patients? Or just the ones who look undocumented? Are hospitals staffed and trained to double as immigration officers? Is that their mandate? Isn’t the intent here to make circumstances in Arizona uncomfortable to the undocumented to the point of harassment?
[Photo by CMRF_Crumlin]