Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Do you believe that this man should be deported to Mexico for further treatment, or should be allowed to stay in the U.S. since the U.S. didn't prevent him from entering the country in the first place?
Last edited by Bo; 10-28-2011 at 11:36 AM..
Reason: Moved from Texas forum. Not enough Texas in the topic!
He's an illegal immigrant - that's all I need to know. He should be deported, paralyzed or not...
Call me heartless, but there many millions of people who entered this country LEGALLY, and many more waiting to come here LEGALLY. Why should ILLEGAL immigrants be allowed to remain here?
I think a man is in pain and needs help and it's sad that he can't get it b/c his mom accidentally gave birth to him "on the wrong side of town".
I don't have any real answers. His situation is very sad though. Perhaps force the company who hired him to pay for his medical issues? I don't think Texas and/or U.S. taxpayers should have to pay, especially given that many U.S. citizens don't have health insurance.
When I made a recent trip to Canada with a tour group, it was emphasized repeatedly that travelers who are not Canadian citizens must make sure we had health insurance that would cover the costs of any treatment in Canada.
So, Canadians don't want to pay for uninsured Americans' health care in Canada, which I understand. I don't blame them.
I don't have any real answers. His situation is very sad though. Perhaps force the company who hired him to pay for his medical issues? I don't think Texas and/or U.S. taxpayers should have to pay, especially given that many U.S. citizens don't have health insurance.
When I made a recent trip to Canada with a tour group, it was emphasized repeatedly that travelers who are not Canadian citizens must make sure we had health insurance that would cover the costs of any treatment in Canada.
So, Canadians don't want to pay for uninsured Americans' health care in Canada, which I understand. I don't blame them.
I don't blame them either. Americans don't want to pay for an illegal immigrants health problems....but we also don't want to pay for expensive fruit that is made cheaper by illegal immigrants picking them.
It seems like we want to have it both ways.
I wonder about a country that allows illegals to enter, allows them to work for slave wages, and then when they get hurt, tries to boot them back over the border....
I don't blame them either. Americans don't want to pay for an illegal immigrants health problems....but we also don't want to pay for expensive fruit that is made cheaper by illegal immigrants picking them.
It seems like we want to have it both ways.
I wonder about a country that allows illegals to enter, allows them to work for slave wages, and then when they get hurt, tries to boot them back over the border....
I think the U.S. does want to have it both ways. If a country the size and with the power the U.S. has wants to really control its borders, it will find a way to do so. There always seems to be more money to blow for overseas ventures that have nothing to do with the U.S., but not enough money to deal with border issues. Hmm . . . wonder why that is? A "broke" country somehow found MILLIONS of dollars to help aid the Libyan rebels this year. I'm shocked, simply shocked, I say.
In Alabama right now, farmers can't find enough workers to stay with the harvesting jobs available. Many Americans have quit after less than working a full day. I maintain my my own large front and back yards for the exercise (not just to save $), and it's hard work. I can't imagine picking fruit all day. I admire people who can do work like that. I don't demonize them.
If I were one of the powers that be, I would go after the company that hired this now paralyzed man, and they would pay for his medical care. If they went bankrupt and the owners of the company went broke, so be it. They knowingly and willingly hired someone in the country with no right to be here, and now they have a hands-off approach to paying for his medical care? I call BS on that one.
I see his legal status and his health/accident status as two separate issues.
If this man was a US citizen who worked for a small employer with no insurance, he would be in the same situation except he would be eligible for medicad and SSI disability. He could go after his employer in court, but only to the extent the employer has assets to attach.
This man is in the same boat except that he cannot apply for medicad or SSI due to his lack of citizenship. He is eligible for whatever social benefits Mexico provides it's citizens, but has to apply in Mexico to receive them.
Now if we rule out governmental assistance to the injured man and rely on the health care system to foot the bill under the emergency services laws, then the hospital is on the hook until such time as there is no longer a life threatening emergency. At that time they can kick the man to the curb, illegal or citizen makes no difference.
It seems in this story that this is the direction things are heading and the hospital is trying to get the man to make plans for that day when he gets kicked out of the hospital. He has more options in his own country than he does here and should return to Mexico to utilize them. It would be the same if he was here on a visitor visa, student visa, or temporary work permit.
A lot of details are left out. If the man's employer was making contributions to the Workmens Compensation Fund, then that fund is obliged to pay whatever their schedule allows, regardles of the worker's immigration status.
The hospital is only required by law to provide emergency medical treatment, until the patient can be safely transferred home or to a treatment center that will accept him and his form of payment. Whether that is in the USA or Mexico does not change the fact that his current hospital is no longer legally required to foot the bill for his treatment, which is no longer emergency.
Arrangements should be made to transport him to a Mexican hospital (Mexico now has Medicare for nearly everyone, but only if they have paid the small annual premium). He is now a captive of ICE, and they have a perfect right to deport him if his papers are not in order, regardless of his physical or medical condition, provided he can be safely moved without endangering his life or health.
Whether he is a legal (witn a green card or work permit or visa) or illegal has nothing to do with any of this.
Sorry, send him back to Mexico. Send half the bill to the employer as a fine for hiring him, and send the other half of the bill to the Mexican Government.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I maintain my my own large front and back yards for the exercise (not just to save $), and it's hard work. I can't imagine picking fruit all day. I admire people who can do work like that. I don't demonize them.
