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 Editorials | Opinions | December 2007 
Point/Counterpoint: Is It True That Illegal Immigrants are Draining US Resources?
 Claire Webster & Taylor Alfonso - Weekly Hornet
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 |  | It seems that in this day and age, many have come to not care about their neighbor if they are illegal immigrants. Or rather, it is not that they don't care, but it is the fact that they don't want their tax dollars to go to people who are not citizens. |  | |
Claire Webster:
Contrary to what many have assumed in the past, illegal Mexican and other Latin American immigrants are 50 percent less likely to use hospital emergency rooms in California than U.S.-born Latinos, according to a study published November 26 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
UCLA researchers conducted the study which analyzed data from 42,044 participants of the 2003 California Health Interview Survey.
People constantly worry about what all of these hospital visits will do to the economy and where the money to pay for these visits will come from. But there is not much that can be done to reduce this number unless the law is changed.
Federal law states that hospitals must treat every emergency, regardless of a person's insurance or immigration status. Even if the law is changed, it would not be right to deny people health care solely because they may not be able to pay, especially if the patient is a young child who is not old enough to work.
The fact is, illegal immigrants are people, just like everyone else.
The only difference between immigrants from the past and ones in the present is that the citizenship process takes years and many will never be granted citizenship.
The likelihood that an emergency will only occur after an immigrant is granted citizenship is extremely low.
It seems that in this day and age, many have come to not care about their neighbor if they are illegal immigrants. Or rather, it is not that they don't care, but it is the fact that they don't want their tax dollars to go to people who are not citizens.
Citizenship, lack of insurance or lack of money is not a reason to deny health care to people.
Taylor Alfonso:
In a very basic, black and white view of the situation, illegal immigrants do use our resources.
Despite the UCLA study stating that illegal Latinos use emergency rooms 50 percent less than legal Latinos, that is still 50 percent of resources drained from citizens.
It's not fair to either side. Citizens shouldn't have to worry about their tax dollars being used to cover the cost of those without insurance.
But it's also unfair to illegal immigrants. Although it is against the law for them to live in the United States, can we really blame them?
Business owners hire them because they are willing to work for less money than citizens and without benefits. Companies will continue to hire them even after they have lost workers to deportation.
If we offer them work and an education, and thus a chance to live a life here, it is inevitable that while they reside in our state and country, they will get sick and need to go to the hospital.
How can we complain about the fact that legal residents' taxes go towards their hospital visits, and complain that schools are over crowded if we continue to tempt them with the great opportunities we have here? We even use their services to put their life on the line for our country. It isn't right that legal families' hard earned money will be spent to cover the costs of someone else's medical bill, someone who does not have insurance.
Something must change, something more than simply deportation. America must stop using these people. Stop using their bodies for the war in Iraq, stop taking advantage of their poverty by employing them without decent wages or benefits, and stop tempting them with an education while at the same time chastising them for living here.
America must come up with a comprehensive policy that will deal with the fact that illegal immigrants use our resources that citizens must pay for, even if doing so might hurt our economy.
We can't have both. It's not fair to the illegal immigrants, or the citizens. |
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