Arizona bill would compel hospitals to check immigration status
By Cindy Carcamo
January 26, 2013, 6:00 a.m.
Under a bill introduced this week in Arizona, hospital staffs would be compelled to check whether uninsured patients are in the country illegally.
If the patients can't provide proof that they are in the country legally, hospital staff would have to call federal immigration officials or local law enforcement. The bill by state Rep. Steve Smith also would require hospital officials to file annual reports of how many people they treated who were in the country illegally.
Smith, a Republican from Maricopa, was not available for comment, but has said that H.B. 2293 is designed to track how many people who are in the country illegally receive free medical care in the state. The aim, he has said, is not to withhold care but to collect information.
Immigrant rights organizations say the bill is misguided, targets immigrants and essentially requires hospital workers to police immigration.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ff-arizona-hospitals-immigrants-20130125,0,7985961.story
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