Illegal who fell into a coma in New Jersey wakes up in Poland: Hospital DEPORTS stroke victim who lived in US for 30 yrs (2013, medical)

[All American NYC]

A man who fell unconscious after having a stroke in a New Jersey hospital woke up from his coma in Poland.
Wladyslaw Haniszewski, 69, is receiving treatment at a hospital in his native country, despite having lived in the U.S. for the past 30 years. He was deported after it emerged he had no medical insurance and had been living in the U.S. illegally....U.S. hospitals are legally bound to give emergency care to all, but can ship 'undocumented patients' back to their homeland through a process called 'medical repatriation.'

Unbelievable!!! 30 years!

[BigDGeek]

Sad that things like this have to happen, but that is sometimes the price you pay for breaking the law. When does it stop? When is enough, enough? Why should we have to eat the cost of his medical care when he's not even legally allowed to be here?

I say this as someone with a full-blood Polish grandparent...and as someone who holds a Polish passport...speaks Polish...and has lived in Poland.

[Idon'tdateyou]

Illegal is illegal, no matter what. I have seen firsthand that many Polish and other Eastern European abuse the system and this has to stop. Many came here after they retired and received social security they never paid into.

I am not anti Polish at all. My mom is 75% Polish and my dad is also Polish (not sure the amount). I have no issues with the culture and having had a grandma who was 100% Polish did a lot of Polish traditions. I have an issue with being here illegally, especially if this means stealing jobs from Americans and taking welfare.

[1stAmendment1st]

Probably over stayed his visa.

[tinman01]

Talk about poetic justice.

[NCN]

It took immigration 30 years to do their job but it is good it finally got done.

[Minethatbird]

Better late than never.

[majesticat]

I do wish a full recovery for the poor guy. However, we can barely afford to provide medical care
For our own citizens. Curses in our government for allowing this BS to go on for so long.

[Packard fan]

Oh well. Poland ain't a rat hole like Haiti is in 2013. This Polish dude will be Ok back home.

[IBMMuseum]

Originally Posted by Idon'tdateyou

Illegal is illegal, no matter what. I have seen firsthand that many Polish and other Eastern European abuse the system and this has to stop. Many came here after they retired and received social security they never paid into...

It's SSI (Supplemental Security Income), not the regular Social Security program (which an immigrant may have not paid into for 40 quarters of work if they came here past middle-aged). To qualify as an immigrant, they must be over the age of 65, legally present in the United States for at least three years, and below a certain income (typically below $450 per month, with liquid assets below $2,000). This is nothing new, it's been an issue for decades (damn that Obama!), with more elderly of immigrant-origin than native-born Americans participating in the program.