A bill moving in the Arizona Senate would require hospitals to ask new patients about their immigration status.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers, says answering the question would be optional and claims there would be “no immigration consequences.”
"It will help the state better calculate the cost of illegal alien health care. It does not, I’ll say again, it does not deny care to anyone," Rogers said.
Noah Schram with the ACLU of Arizona warned of unintended outcomes in a Monday committee hearing.
"Imagine, for example, that the data reveals that hospitals spend X amount on emergency care for undocumented immigrants, what happens then? Will funding be cut to these facilities? Will we see ICE agents, border patrol or state law enforcement stationed in hospitals?" Schram asked.
Opponents also say the bill would deter people from seeking medical care and lead to racial profiling.
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The ruling comes a day after news broke of the government’s plan to offer legal aid to detained immigrant children through a $150 million contract Burke Law Group — a small Texas-based firm with a co-founder who is a former Trump appointee. -
A notice posted on the Federal Register this week details a $150 million government contract with Burke Law Group to represent unaccompanied immigrant children. A multimillion-dollar contact with nonprofits across the country to do the work expired Friday. -
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is supposed to help people during disasters like floods and fires. But a new report finds the Trump administration diverted FEMA staff at key times to do something very different — help ICE in immigration enforcement. -
The DACA program turned 14 this year. The Obama-era initiative is supposed to give some undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children a work permit and temporary protection from deportation. But community members say that’s no longer the case under President Donald Trump. -
Some 20,000 children alone in the US receive legal aid through the contract — part of a federal program established by Congress almost two decades ago. The contract to do that work expires July 31.
