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Should illegal immigrants get free health care in the US?
It's ironic when legal immigrants (the ones who obeyed the law) don't get freebies while the ones who broke the law do.
Strange how politicians think differently than ethical people do
Should illegal immigrants get free health care in the US?
IMO... the issue is....
They have been allowed to enter. They are HERE.
Now, someone shows up in the ER bleeding from a cut or with pneumonia or in diabetic shock or even in labor... what are we suppose to do? Say, "sorry, you're here illegally?" Should we let them die in the waiting room?
And even if it's not immediately life-threatening. Do we refuse to care for a pregnant woman? A child with Type 1 Diabetes? Morally, can/should we do that?
The problem, IMO, is not health care for those who entered illegally... the problem is they entering illegally. Once allowed to be here, morally, we can't just sit back and do nothing if they are sick. Even those on death row in prison are given health care.
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@tango I cannot speak for the US but here in The People's Republic of California, I know (as an employer) that it's illegal to ask an applicant if they are here legally... we aren't allowed to ask and if that's volunteered, we are not permitted to discriminate agaist them because they are here illegally. I know its true in education, too. My wife (a now retired public school teacher) noted that there are schools (even whole school districts) where it is THOUGHT the majority of the students are illegal aliens, here illegally. BUT it's illegal to ask about that when the child is enrolled and illegal to do anything about if that's volunteered. So, we taxpayers are spending tens of thousands of dollars each year for each kid here illegally.
Morally anyway, I think it's hard to support that we pay for a kid to go to school but not if they need insulin to live....
The issue we need to address, IMO, is that they are here. Once permitted to be here, it seems we have a moral obligation to treat them as we would if they were here legally. Yeah, there are STILL the issues of health insurance, etc. Yup. Same as for those legally here.
A related issue that bugs me.... border states like California, Texas, Arizona.... we have to pay for these people. The federal government is the one responsible for controlling our borders but the impacted states have to pay for the federal government's lack of control. AND I'm concerned with illegal aliens voting. In California, if you have a driver's license, you essentially can vote. Yes, there's a box to check if want to also register to vote and in small print it says you must be a US citizen but there's NO check if the applicant actually is. It's unknown how many illegal "Motor - Voter" folks there are in CA but it's probably enough to impact close elections. But of course, these are different issues than health care.