Hospital Attempts Deportation of Woman With Inadequate Insurance

[annabanana]

Source: AlterNet

An immigrant women from Honduras - with legal documentation - faces deportation because her insurance does not cover long-term care.

An immigrant woman from Honduras who has very recently awakened from a coma is being threatened with what can effectively be called deportation, because she does not have the insurance needed to cover her medical bills. (Don’t read the comments in these articles unless you want to lose your lunch.) But here is the real kicker: while it would be repulsive and incredibly inhumane to deport an uninsured/under-insured person with a serious medical condition because of their undocumented status, despite the lack of adequate facilities for their care in their nations of citizenship, it isn’t even the case here. Sonia del Cid Iscoa has a current visa and in the U.S. legally. (All emphasis in quoted text is mine.)





Read more: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/immigration/85843/

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This woman has been a legal resident for 17 years and has no family in Honduras.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

1. If she's in the U.S. legally, then there is no legal way to deport her

The only way to deport a legal alien is if that alien commits crimes of "moral turpitude" (i.e., drugs, prostitution, terrorism, more than 2 felonies, more than 3 misdemeanors - and there are exceptions to all of these).

A hospital is not the U.S. government. The hospital can try to have her deported but ultimately it is up to ICE and if there are no grounds for deportation (see above), then she is going to stay, no matter what the hospital says. In any event, I'm sure a qualified immigration attorney would best serve her.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

2. Upon further reading, nowhere do I read that she is being deported

but that her hospital is trying to ship her off to another facility across the border, which is actually a fairly common procedure in certain border states. I think that such a transfer should only be done when the patient consents to it.

I wish people understood the actual term "deportation." Deportation is the legal term for teh removal of aliens in the U.S. who are either illegal, are accruing unlawful presence (that is, people whose visas are expired but are still in the U.S.) or have a criminal record (a certain number of misdemeanors and/or felonies). Only the U.S. government can deport people. There are some defenses to deportation but, unlike criminal proceedings, there is no right to a court-appointed attorney in immigration court. Defendants can either appear pro se or hire an attorney.

Being transferred from a hospital in the U.S. to a hospital in Mexico is not deportation. It may be a kidnapping, if without the patient's consent, but it's not a deportation. If she has a valid visa, she will be able to re-enter the U.S.

[unapatriciated]

7. The terminology may be different but the outcome is the same.

She probably would have been quietly "transferred" to a hospital in Mexico if not for the media attention.

[Baby Snooks]

5. But poverty is a sin in this country...

Being poor is a sin. The sinful people are poor. God is good to the godly. That is the prevailing attitude by the Republicans.

She probably will need an attorney but attorneys are not much better than Republicans in their approach to helping the poor.

[cornermouse]

3. Hospitals can't deport people.

That's a government function.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. I can't imagine this happening in Canada,

England, France, or even Cuba. But then they all have national health insurance, and aren't beholden to insurance companies, who call the shots here. I'm surprised the company didn't order the hospital to take her off life support, since dying would have been more "cost effective" to them.

[treestar]

6. If she's legal and hasn't committed a crime, she can't be deported

If she were undocumented, I would call it harsh to deport her before she's at least well.

But hey, undocumented immigrants are the biggest problem we have in this country today. :sarcasm: It's even more important to get them out than it is to rescue people in a hurricane. :sarcasm: