Green Card or Healthcare?

Credit: Rewire News, Morgan Meneses-Sheets

Immigrants are living in constant fear of choosing between getting the government help they need or gaining permanent citizenship. But why should this thought even be crossing their mind?

We live in a country that prides itself on being a melting pot of different cultures, however, we do not give those who come to the US the same opportunities that you would get if you were born here. This is exactly what Laura Peniche, an immigrant herself, expresses in a New York Times article. She talks about her struggles for providing for her family and how she feels like she cannot use any type of government assistance.

Credit: AFP PHOTO / FREDERIC J. BROWN

Peniche, a mom of three and an immigrant from Mexico, describe her experience while living in Denver in constant fear that one single move will crush her chances of becoming an American citizen. Peniche came to the US as a teen, meaning she holds DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status. However, she still wants to gain permanent citizenship in the United States to stop living in fear of being taken away from her children. 

However, Peniche is still living in fear today. She feels she cannot take any type of government aid to help herself or her family. She is not getting any type of government assistance such as food stamps, reduced housing costs, or healthcare. When talking about these issues, Peniche says, “Since it’s government help, I feel like I can’t use it” then she goes on to say “I feel like any little thing...would be used to to keep me from being a resident”.

If this mom of three feels like she cannot even get help to feed her kids, what does this mean for their healthcare?

It truly is an impossible choice for a mother if her child were to get sick. In our country, if you are an immigrant, you have to choose going to the hospital, most likely without health insurance, and get the help you need but not being able to pay the bills. Or, you apply for health insurance that is through the government, such as Medicare or Medicaid, and are in constant fear that you will not get permanent citizenship. There is no real or great option for these immigrant families, even if the children are US citizens, because their parents are still constantly worrying and stretched for money.

But why are moms like Laura Peniche so worried? What contributes to the fear that Laura Peniche is experiencing?

According to the same New York Times article, there are many changes within the current administration that is what some people might think are targeting the immigrant population. This is the rule that immigrants that are trying to gain citizen status have to be completely self sufficient, meaning they do not use or benefit from any government programs. So, this means that the immigrant parents who most likely have low paying jobs anyway, have to work so much harder just to give their kids adequate nutrition. In this case, you can see how much of a struggle it is even for legal immigrants in the country.

An article written by Richter discusses how immigrant women view the healthcare system in the United States for immigrant women. This case differs from the NewYork Times article in a way that these women are undocumented and living in Houston, Texas. In the article titled, “Voices of Women” the author interviews three women, Maria, Norma, and Zoila. The most common theme in discussing their struggles within the US was how unaffordable health care is. All three women begin to share their stories and struggles within the healthcare system, such as not being able to pay for necessary surgeries or being criticized for abusing the hospital systems and the American tax payer’s dollars.

Even while getting care from the physicians in the different hospital systems, they still were not treated with respect or dignity. When the author talked about what diagnosis Norma received, she didn’t know.

Credit:LA Times/Hector Amezcua

“I cannot speak english and no one told me what happened to me. They didn’t bring someone to explain to me, I didn’t know what they were saying. I felt like lost...they said it was $5,000 I owe. I couldn’t think what I would do to pay the money” Norma said.

With situation such as Norma’s happening all of the time, all around the world, it is just going to discourage immigrant families from seeking help from a medical professional. Although Normal was an illegal immigrant, this was true for Laura Peniche’s story as well, even though she is a legal immigrant within the country.

Why must it be true that these families have to be living in constant fear that they are going to be split up and deported? A change needs to happen so that immigrant families can feel included and safe to get the help that we need. In doing this, I think that American born citizens need to get rid of the dangerous, money-hungry stereotype of immigrants.

In the same New York Times article that introduced us to Laura, there were some interesting statistics included. The article states that immigrants only make up 6.5 percent of people receiving medicaid, and only 8.8 percent of the population who is getting food assistance. Where as native born Americans are making up well over half of those populations. If more and more native born Americans realized statistics such as these, they would be able to tell that immigrants are not simply using up all of the government funded programs. Also, just by native born Americans realizing that immigrants are people too and have the same basic human needs as the rest of us, their views may be subject to change regarding healthcare.

Another step that needs to happen is the encouragement and use of urgent cares and federally qualified health centers. These two types of health centers allow for a cheaper and quicker way of getting medical attention for smaller and more preventable cases of illness. If immigrant families start using an urgent care, they can see and start to trust more and more physicians. This also prevents families from having to make expensive ER visits. It has been argued time and time again that healthcare and access to good, quality healthcare is a basic human right. This means that all humans from all different backgrounds deserve to get the healthcare that they need to survive. The discussion of why immigrants are not getting some of the basic human needs should not even be a discussion at all, it should be automatic that these individuals get the same quality care as the rest of us.

All in all, the issue of immigrant healthcare comes down to acceptance and a reduction of stereotypes. The United States of America is a country that was built by immigrants, it is about time we start to show them respect and give them the rights that they deserve.

Relevant Readings: Richter, R. (2015). Medical Outcasts: Gendered and Institutionalized Xenophobia in Undocumented Forced Migrants' Emergency Health Care. "Voices of the Women". Lexington Books.