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Illegal Aliens Bump U.S. Citizens For Mental Healthcare
Right Side News ^ | Mar. 10, 2010 | JudicialWatch.org

Posted on 03/10/2010 10:03:58 AM PST by AuntB

In the latest outrage involving illegal immigration, mentally ill U.S. citizens in Florida are being placed on waiting lists for treatment because public facilities are overcrowded with illegal aliens.

As if this weren't disturbing enough, state officials want to turn the illegal immigrants over to federal authorities but patient confidentiality laws forbid it because it would violate the illegal aliens' privacy.

The baffling information was revealed this week by a northern Florida newspaper that says the crisis puts the state at the forefront of a national debate over whetherillegal immigrants should enjoy the same rights to public health care as legal residents.

healthcareThe Sunshine State annually spends about $165 million on healthcare for illegal immigrants. A chunk of that, nearly $20 million, was spent to provide mental health care at public institutions for at least 86 illegal aliens, according to a November survey quoted in the piece. The cost is likely much higher, authorities say, because there are probably more unidentified undocumented immigrants in custody.

This has presented a huge burden on the state's mental health resources and created a waiting list of 60 beds for those legal U.S. residents and citizens who need care. State lawmakers who oppose the current system have spoken out against it but failed to take action. The Republican who chairs Florida's healthcare policy committee points out that it would be more appropriate for the illegal immigrants to "go back to their countries and get treatment there," but so far has done nothing to remedy the situation.

U.S. taxpayers spend tens of billions of dollars annually to provide free medical care for illegal immigrants nationwide with states that border Mexico taking the biggest hit. The expense has become so unbearable in California-long an illegal alien sanctuary-that several municipalities eliminated the perk last year to save tens of millions of dollars in the midst of the state's dire financial crisis.

Adding to the problem is the fact that Mexico, the country that provides the largest amount of illegal immigrants in the U.S., has long promoted America's generous public health centers. It even operates a Spanish-language program (Ventanillas de Salud, Health Windows) in about a dozen U.S. cities that refers its nationals-living in the country illegally-to clinics where they can get free medical care without being turned over toimmigration authorities.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Mexico; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aliens; florida; healthcare; immigrantlist; immigration
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Another good related article today:

Fraud & abuse: earned income tax credit by unlawful immigrants

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/23571/Fraud_abuse:_earned_income_tax_credit_by_unlawful_immigrants.html

[snip]Your U.S. Congress participates in and supports one of THE most fraudulent taxpayer abuse schemes ever concocted within the Federal Government. It’s time the administration put its foot down rather than allow millions of unlawful immigrants to step onto American soil—while soaking billions out of the U.S. Treasury.

Since the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) became part of the income tax code in 1975, it has quietly become the largest cash transfer program in the United States. At a cost of more than $44 billion per year, EITC spending dwarfs that of the traditional welfare program—Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)—and food stamps combined. More than 23 million households currently receive the credit. Edwin Rubenstein exposed one of the most dramatic tax frauds ever on the American taxpayer: “Defrauding the American taxpayer”, Volume 19, Number 3, spring 2009, www.thesocialcontract.com , “The Earned Income Tax Credit and Illegal Immigration - A Study in Fraud, Abuse, and Liberal Activism.”

“From 1985 to 2006, EITC payments grew from $2.1 billion to $44.4 billion, or by an eye-popping 2,014 percent,” Rubenstein said. “Total federal income tax revenues rose by 217 percent over that same period. Similarly, the number of returns claiming the EITC rose from 6.4 million to 23 million—an increase of 255 percent—over a period when the total number of federal income tax returns increased by 36 percent.

“More than one in four immigrant households received the EITC in 2000—nearly twice the 13.2 percent rate of households headed by Native Americans. And because immigrant households are larger via higher fertility, their EITC payments are larger than those received by native households.

“Bottom line: Immigrants accounted for about 13 percent of the U.S. population in 2008 but receive an estimated 26 percent of EITC benefits—about $12 billion.”

1 posted on 03/10/2010 10:03:58 AM PST by AuntB
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To: AuntB

Unbelievable!

Is it any wonder the well is running dry.


2 posted on 03/10/2010 10:06:51 AM PST by Marty62 (former Marty60)
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To: AuntB

Illegals have more rights than you and I.


3 posted on 03/10/2010 10:07:55 AM PST by bgill (The framers of the US Constitution established an entire federal government in 18 pages.)
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To: AuntB
round them all up and send them back to their country. But that will not happen as the left-wing anti-Amerjcan Democrats want them for their votes.
4 posted on 03/10/2010 10:08:34 AM PST by YOUGOTIT (The Royal 100 Club is Acting the Same as the Roman Senate When the Republic Collapsed)
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To: AuntB

A Mariel boatlift with jugs of water instead of boats. Nice.


5 posted on 03/10/2010 10:10:12 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (A proud American-American since 1949.)
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To: AuntB

PROBLEM:

“The Republican who chairs Florida’s healthcare policy committee points out that it would be more appropriate for the illegal immigrants to “go back to their countries and get treatment there,” but so far has done nothing to remedy the situation. “

REMEDY:

Give them amnesty, make them legal....problem solved and that’s exactly what will happen....the ‘economy’ needs them.

pffffft.


6 posted on 03/10/2010 10:16:00 AM PST by Kimberly GG ("Path to Citizenship" Amnesty candidates will NOT get my vote!)
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To: YOUGOTIT
But that will not happen as the left-wing anti-American Democrats want them for their votes.

And large employers want them for wage suppression.

7 posted on 03/10/2010 10:16:05 AM PST by Menehune56 ("Let them hate so long as they fear" (Oderint Dum Metuant), Lucius Accius, (170 BC - 86 BC))
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To: AuntB

Ventanillas de Salud, or Health Windows, now operates at some 40 Mexican consulates around the country.

Mexico Promotes Free U.S. Healthcare For Illegal Immigrants

The program is called Ventanillas de Salud (Health Windows) in Spanish and its mission is to help illegal immigrants find U.S. hospitals, clinics and other government programs where they can get free services without being deported for violating federal immigration laws.

Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego and Indiana are among the cities where Mexican consulates operate the health referral system which annually costs U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. In Los Angeles County alone, illegal immigrants cost taxpayers nearly $440 million in health services annually and a whopping $1.1 billion statewide.

The Mexican consul in Los Angeles proudly announced that nearly 300,000 Mexicans in the area have benefited from his government’s health referral program, which he says actually saves the county money by encouraging immigrants to seek preventive care rather than waiting for more expensive emergency treatment.

The Southern California operation promises to assess “consulate clients” for eligibility to government-funded health insurance and other primary care services and offers free legal assistance to those who are denied coverage. Its goal is to improve access to health services for immigrants of Mexican origin by formalizing a health education, medical home referral and insurance enrollment program.

In Chicago, the Mexican consul’s Spanish-language web site heavily promotes the Illinois Department of Health’s low-cost prescription medicine program for illegal aliens and various free medical services throughout the state. It encourages all Mexicans in the area to pursue the valuable U.S. government-financed services for their entire family.

The Indiana-based program boasts that it serves thousands of “Mexican nationals” living in that state as well as Ohio, Kentucky and southern Illinois. Mexican officials claim that its highly successful pro-health program sends out a clear message to other Mexican consulates throughout the country and the world.

Although these programs facilitate people to remain in the country illegally, Mexico is working hard to expand them to all 47 U.S. consulates to better serve its nationals. In the meantime, U.S. taxpayers will keep picking up the exorbitant tab of medically treating the millions who live in the country illegally.

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:A0N2vsOLZ-sJ:www.judicialwatch.org/comment/reply/5650+Ventanillas+de+Salud,+Health+Windows&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us


8 posted on 03/10/2010 10:16:15 AM PST by kcvl
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To: AuntB

Oh c’mon... I’m speechless. I thought they were only here to “work.”


9 posted on 03/10/2010 10:16:24 AM PST by Borax Queen
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To: AuntB

“Health Windows” — A Window To The World Of Taxpayer-Subsidized Healthcare For Illegals

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times provides some insights:

First came the Mexican consular photo identification cards that closely resembled U.S. driver’s licenses and allowed immigrants, including those in the country illegally, to establish credit and apply for government services.

Then the Mexican government worked with the Treasury Department to make sure the U.S. banking system remained open to immigrants.

Now Mexican consulates in the U.S. are taking on an even more formidable challenge: the healthcare system.

A program called Ventanillas de Salud, or Health Windows, aims to provide Mexican immigrants with basic health information, cholesterol checks and other preventive tests. It also makes referrals to U.S. hospitals, health centers and government programs where patients can get care without fear of being turned over to immigration authorities.

The LAT’s writers point to the growing outrage over the impact of Mexican nationals here illegally, who are boldly availing themselves of healthcare that many bona-fide American citizens are unable to secure:Â

But critics say that illegal immigrants are already an unchecked drain on the public healthcare system and that such programs will only allow them to reap even more benefits.

“It facilitates people remaining in the country illegally,” said Ira Mehlman, spokesman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “Clearly it is a policy of the Mexican government … to get all the institutions in the U.S. to provide services to their citizens who are living here illegally.”

Mehlman said Los Angeles County, especially, should not be partnering with the consulate to provide health services. “The county is broke, they are cutting back on services, they are closing emergency rooms, yet they are dreaming up new ways to provide benefits to illegal aliens,” he said. “It’s lunacy.”

Health services to illegal immigrants in Los Angeles County cost the Medi-Cal program nearly $440 million in 2005, according to the California Department of Health Services. Statewide, that number was more than $1.1 billion last year.

Such a deal. Mexico exports its poor and illiterate to the United States, even publishing a guide for them on how to enter the U.S. illegally. In turn, they set up a large network of Consulates across the American landscape to ensure deep penetration into the country by illegal immigrants and, in turn, to provide them with pseudo documentation (i.e., Matricula Consular cards) that serves the illegals well in securing employment, driver’s licenses, banking services, or worse!

In return, Mexico receives billions of dollars in annual remittances from its nationals working in the United States — indeed, remittances have become Mexico’s second largest source of income.


10 posted on 03/10/2010 10:18:16 AM PST by kcvl
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To: Liz; Clintonfatigued; rabscuttle385; pissant; SwinneySwitch; Pelham; gubamyster; mkjessup; ...

“Adding to the problem is the fact that Mexico, the country that provides the largest amount of illegal immigrants in the U.S., has long promoted America’s generous public health centers. It even operates a Spanish-language program (Ventanillas de Salud, Health Windows) in about a dozen U.S. cities that refers its nationals-living in the country illegally-to clinics where they can get free medical care without being turned over toimmigration authorities.”


11 posted on 03/10/2010 10:19:13 AM PST by AuntB (WE are NOT a nation of immigrants! We're a nation of Americans! http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/)
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To: AuntB

ANd you can thank the morons Repubbies and democrats alike, who support sanctuary cities. THis is an abomination!


12 posted on 03/10/2010 10:20:33 AM PST by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: AuntB

They have Socialized Medicine in Mexico, so why do you suppose they are coming here?

Is it because Mexico’s Socialized Medicine isn’t working? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

I’ve been told by a doctor that in Mexico if you need dialysis they tell their patients to go to the U.S. because over there it is basically a death sentence. I’m guessing that means they don’t dialize you, because there isn’t enough government money.


13 posted on 03/10/2010 10:23:43 AM PST by Beowulf9
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To: AuntB


Illegal Aliens Bump U.S. Citizens For Mental Healthcare

Reminds me of Boston placing illegals in public housing...
ahead of US Military veterans.

This land is their land...
(at least that’s the way it seems to work these days)


14 posted on 03/10/2010 10:25:46 AM PST by VOA
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To: pissant; All

Check this article out that I just read. A judge was disciplined for telling the truth!

Sharp-Tongued Judges Get a Scolding

[snip]”Citta was disciplined for comments he made while sentencing criminal defendants in 2002 and 2006.

On April 13, 2006, during the sentencing of Alex Ramirez for a parole violation, Ramirez’s lawyer explained that part of the reason for the violation was a language barrier between Ramirez, a Spanish-speaking immigrant, and his probation officer, who did not speak or understand Spanish.

Citta responded: “Not only do we have to let him come into the country illegally and stay here, not only do we have to provide him with public assistance, not only do we have to provide him with free health care, not only do we have to provide him with a free attorney when he gets in trouble, now he wants a bilingual probation officer, because otherwise it’s inconvenient for him.”

Citta also told Ramirez that if it were up to him, “I’d take you just as you’re dressed and bound right now and have you escorted back to Mexico forthwith and forget the prison term.” He expressed his hope that when Ramirez was released, immigration officials would “scoop you up … and send you back.

He also sarcastically told the prosecutor she could address him in Spanish because the court had the benefit of a bilingual prosecutor and probation officer, as well as an interpreter.”

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202446001425&SharpTongued_Judges_Get_a_Scolding


15 posted on 03/10/2010 10:26:03 AM PST by AuntB (WE are NOT a nation of immigrants! We're a nation of Americans! http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/)
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To: YOUGOTIT
round them all up and send them back to their country. But that will not happen as the left-wing anti-Amerjcan Democrats want them for their votes.

WTF stopped Bush and the Republicans when they controlled D.C.??

Stop the bullsh*t!

16 posted on 03/10/2010 10:39:12 AM PST by dragnet2 (Millions of unionized government employees are gang raping America.)
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To: AuntB

Struggling County Spends Millions On Illegal Aliens’ Dialysis

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2009/aug/struggling-county-spends-millions-illegal-aliens-dialysis


17 posted on 03/10/2010 10:40:12 AM PST by WOBBLY BOB (ACORN:American Corruption for Obama Right Now)
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To: AuntB

I guess leaving our borders open was the scheme to let illegals into the country for multiple reasons - votes, cheap labor, and now a good reason for identification cards?

There are no coincidences. The Progressives seem to have all their ducks in a row, thanks to the apathy of the American people for the past 60 years.


18 posted on 03/10/2010 10:43:08 AM PST by Paperdoll ( On the cutting edge)
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To: kcvl

Let us note that the clinics that provide this health care to illegals are motivated to do so because they can cite the stats to justify increasing their budgets.

Truly perverse and extremely intractable.


19 posted on 03/10/2010 10:51:27 AM PST by walford (http://the-big-pic.org)
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To: AuntB

The Sunshine State annually spends about $165 million on healthcare for illegal immigrants. A chunk of that, nearly $20 million, was spent to provide mental health care at public institutions for at least 86 illegal aliens

or about a quarter of a million dollars per alien !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

America: here is your future:

http://news.ronatvan.com/2009/03/24/muslim-invader-woman-with-8-kids-living-in-26m-council-house-says-life-in-britain-is-great/

Muslim woman with 8 kids living in £2.6 million Council House near Paul McCartney says “Life in Britain is great” !!!!!!!!!!!!!


20 posted on 03/10/2010 10:52:08 AM PST by DontTreadOnMe2009 (So stop treading on me already!)
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