New restrictions on illegal aliens’ access to publicly funded healthcare has the mainstream media up in arms — a sign that the legislation is working as intended.
In a recent report, Politico claims women who are in the United States illegally are foregoing health services such as mammograms and prenatal care in Florida due to concerns that they would be required to reveal their immigration status in accordance with a law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
The legislation in question forces hospitals that accept Medicaid funds to ask for the immigration status of patients. Migration activists say this is causing illegal aliens to avoid clinics and hospitals out of fear of winding up arrested or deported.
Thelisha Thomas, who serves as the executive director of the nonprofit Healthy Start Coalition in Orange County, notes a decline in the number of pregnant migrant women seeking treatment, even in emergency situations. Additionally, the clinic she oversees has experienced an overall decrease of at least 10 percent in the number of pregnancies.
Thomas claimed to know of one female patient who adamantly refused to check into the emergency room due to immigration-related fears.
“There has definitely been an uptick in the nervousness and apprehension that a lot of immigrants already had when they had to think about getting treatment,” said Thomas. “But I have faith that we will get through this.”
Representatives from the Mexican Consulate in Orlando, known for running a program that provides complimentary healthcare services to migrants globally, have reported a decline in the attendance of migrant women seeking free medical check-ups and prenatal care since the implementation of the law in May. The consulate noted an 18-percent decrease in the use of free mammogram services by patients.
In most cases, illegal aliens do not qualify for federal health benefits. However, certain states leverage Medicaid funds to provide assistance to them. In 2023, California made history by becoming the first state to extend health insurance coverage to illegal aliens through its Medi-Cal program — with California taxpayers picking up the tab.
The law passed by Republicans and signed by DeSantis during the 2023 legislative session empowers authorities to bring charges of human trafficking against individuals who knowingly transport migrants across state lines. It prohibits illegal aliens from driving in Florida, irrespective of possessing a valid driver’s license from another state, and imposes penalties on companies that hire individuals in the country illegally.
Upon being passed, the law received swift opposition. Concerns raised by immigration advocates included the potential for authorities to arrest individuals merely for crossing state lines with an undocumented family member or friend. Additionally, there were apprehensions that a significant percentage of Florida’s 770,000-illegal alien population might depart, potentially leaving the Sunshine State’s agriculture industry and construction market without an adequate workforce.
Republicans and Democrats find themselves on opposite sides of the controversial issue. As Politico reports:
The immigration law was sponsored by Republican state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a top DeSantis ally who frequently pushes the governor’s priorities through the Legislature. Ingoglia said during a phone interview that the decrease in undocumented immigrants accessing the state’s health programs could be a sign that the law is achieving what he set out to do. The law, he said, is meant to keep illegal immigrants from coming to Florida, and less migrants going to clinics could mean less immigrants are in Florida.
… State Rep. Johanna López, an Orlando Democrat, this year filed legislation that would protect nonprofit clinics that provide free health care services from the effects of the law. Her proposal would make it clear that nonprofits aren’t required to ask patients their immigration status. She said she brought up the legislation after officials from the Mexican consulate raised their concerns with her about the steep decline in patients they’re seeing. Her bill, though, is unlikely to go far in the GOP-controlled Legislature.
Furthermore, Ingoglia gave his opinion that the law is “working as intended. It’s taking away the incentives and magnets that were drawing people to Florida.”
Democrats may complain, but their fellow party members in other parts of the country have already experienced the true disastrous effects on a community when one keeps in place policies that serve as a magnet to illegal aliens.
As The New American previously reported, New York City spent approximately $4 billion last year merely on hotels for the wave of migrants that have established themselves there. And that doesn’t include the many other resources the government is providing these foreign arrivals.
As Ingoglia stated, Florida’s law appears to be having the intended effect. While Florida may not be a border state, it is just as much affected by mass migration as any other state in the Union. Being unable to combat the migrant crisis directly as Texas is currently doing by securing the southern border, the Sunshine State’s best bet is to remove the incentives that attract illegal aliens — including the draw of free healthcare.
