Republican Legislator Proposes Immigration Checks in Arizona Hospitals

Ian Becker

In the latest from a state legislature notorious for draconian anti-immigrant measures, Arizona Republican state Rep. Steve Smith has proposed a bill requiring hospitals to check the immigration status of patients. The law, titled H.B. 2293, also mandates that hospitals report undocumented patients to the authorities. Last Thursday, Smith told ABC15 of Phoenix that he has no clue” as to whether hospitals would enforce the rule, but maintained that the bill would serve principally for data collection.” Critics of the law argue that the measure might dissuade undocumented immigrants from seeking emergency medical attention, and that hospitals do not have the jurisdiction or capability to be embroiled in the state’s crusade against undocumented workers. From Salon: “When does this begin or end?” asked Pete Wertheim of the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association to the Arizona Daily Sun. “What other industry should be screening their customers for citizenship verification?”   We cannot detain them,” he said of those suspected of being illegal immigrants. And he said not every one of the 1.2 million uninsured in Arizona — people who would lack the evidence of valid health insurance that triggers what Smith’s bill would require — are here illegally.
Smith has reportedly also lobbied for immigration checks in public schools. 
Please consider supporting our work.

I hope you found this article important. Before you leave, I want to ask you to consider supporting our work with a donation. In These Times needs readers like you to help sustain our mission. We don’t depend on—or want—corporate advertising or deep-pocketed billionaires to fund our journalism. We’re supported by you, the reader, so we can focus on covering the issues that matter most to the progressive movement without fear or compromise.

Our work isn’t hidden behind a paywall because of people like you who support our journalism. We want to keep it that way. If you value the work we do and the movements we cover, please consider donating to In These Times.

Illustrated cover of Gaza issue. Illustration shows an illustrated representation of Gaza, sohwing crowded buildings surrounded by a wall on three sides. Above the buildings is the sun, with light shining down. Above the sun is a white bird. Text below the city says: All Eyes on Gaza
Get 10 issues for $19.95

Subscribe to the print magazine.