Health Care Challenged by Illegal Immigrants

From the “International Herald Tribune” is a nice and cheery story about hospitals around Maryland adding employers and infrastructure for illegal immigrants. This is just one example, in one rural area of the country. Here is the most important information from the article:

“Hispanics are projected to become the largest rural minority by 2025, according to a U.S. Agriculture Department analysis of census data. Their population nearly doubled from 1.4 million to 2.7 million in rural towns between 1980 and 2000, when the last census was held. In that period, Hispanic representation among rural residents rose from 3 percent to 5.5 percent.

A major factor behind the growth of Hispanic residents is tighter border security — particularly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — that makes traveling between the U.S. and Mexico more difficult for illegal immigrants.”They discover that crossing back and forth … no longer is easy and no longer is cheap, and they tend to bring their families with them,” said William Kandel, an Agriculture Department sociologist. “There are a large number of children being born here.”

Some of the most acute problems caused by the Hispanic population boom are along the U.S.-Mexico border, where impoverished border towns lack basic services, said Amy Elizondo, vice president of program services for the National Rural Health Association.

“You see a lot of overflow in emergency rooms” in the border communities, Elizondo said. “You’re looking at Third-World country type problems.”

Third-World country type problems, yes that’s right folks, in the United States.

Link to Full Article