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Illegal Immigrants Drive Up ER Costs, Pollute Border Crossings Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., and Robert J. Cihak, M.D., The Medicine Men In one of a series of hearings occurring in 13 states over the month of August, a panel of the U.S. House of Representatives was told that TennCare pays about $15 million yearly in emergency care for illegal aliens. TennCare pays only for illegal aliens who would otherwise qualify for the program; the remainder of the burden falls on hospitals. So notes The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Inc. in a statement on August 26, 2006. Gary Perrizo, director of accounting at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, estimates that his facility incurs $3.8 million in unreimbursed costs annually because of illegal aliens, a fraction of the more than $74 million total. Republican Representatives Marsha Blackburn and Nathan Deal, both from Georgia, are concerned that many illegal immigrants are receiving care with forged documents. No evidence concerning the actual amounts was presented at the hearing (Tennessean, 8/11/06). In general, hearings have been poorly attended, and activists complained that citizens were given no opportunity to speak (Houston Chronicle, 8/25/06). Another cost of illegal immigration is that crossing routes are becoming buried in garbage. After three years of cleanups, federal government programs have cleaned up about 1 percent of the debris, removing 250,000 pounds of trash, more than 600 abandoned vehicles, and 1,725 abandoned bicycles. More than 50 miles of illegally made roads were rehabilitated. Hikers in the Huachuca Mountains say they are almost wading through empty gallon water jugs. The rotting garbage and human waste is a health hazard to humans and also to wildlife. Trash is commonly found in bears' stomachs. The cost of removing all the trash in one area of southeastern Arizona is estimated to be about $4.5 million, not including the real trash hotbeds such as the Ironwood Forest National Monument. Without effective border controls, the task is believed to be impossible (Arizona Daily Star, 7/30/05). Story Continues Below
Compounding the current higher ER, hospital and environmental costs is the fact that nearly a quarter of U.S. births are to immigrants. This, according to a study in 2005, is a record higher than at the peak of the previous great immigration wave in 1910. Nearly 42 percent of those births are to mothers in the country illegally. Do the math, and this means that 10 percent of U.S. births are to illegal aliens. "We are heading, if you will, into uncharted territory," said last year's study author, Steve Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies. "In the past, immigration was significantly reduced when it reached a similar level, but that's not happening today." Comments noted historian Philip Gold, Ph.D., of Seattle, "This whole situation sounds like an excerpt from an Ayn Rand novel." To which we add that to allow this absurdity to happen we must be either the most foolish people on earth, delusional, or as a country have a latent wish for destruction. Editor's Note: Michael Arnold Glueck submitted this week's commentary. Contact Drs. Glueck and Cihak by e-mail. Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., comments on medical-legal issues and is a Visiting Fellow in Economics and Citizenship at the International Trade Education Foundation of the Washington International Trade Council. Robert J. Cihak, M.D., is a Senior Fellow and Board Member of the Discovery Institute and a past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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