As Republicans and Democrats come together in Washington to debate immigration reform, Rep. Steve Smith, a Republican from Maricopa County, has submitted a proposal to the state legislature that would require the uninsured to provide proof of citizenship at hospital visits.

The proposed law has drawn sharp criticism from Latino groups, who say the bill would make undocumented immigrants less likely to seek care.

“This bill would legalize harassment of immigrants and, in fact, of any woman who looks like she could be an immigrant,” Jessica González-Rojas, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health told The Los Angeles Times.

Smith says he filed the HB 2293 to find out how much the state pays to serve undocumented immigrants and denies that it amounts to crack down on illegal immigration.

“It’s a data collection bill, that’s what it is,” Smith said last week, according to an Arizona ABC News affiliate. “That’s it. We don’t deny anybody. They don’t come in and not get treated. Everything stays the same, we just want it documented.”

But some in the healthcare industry say the bill would disrupt their work.

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By Cindy Carcamo

6:00 AM PST, January 26, 2013
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Under a bill introduced this week in Arizona, hospital staffs would be compelled to check whether uninsured patients are in the country illegally.

If the patients can’t provide proof that they are in the country legally, hospital staff would have to call federal immigration officials or local law enforcement. The bill by state Rep. Steve Smith also would require hospital officials to file annual reports of how many people they treated who were in the country illegally.

Smith, a Republican from Maricopa, was not available for comment, but has said that H.B. 2293 is designed to track how many people who are in the country illegally receive free medical care in the state. The aim, he has said, is not to withhold care but to collect information.

Immigrant rights organizations say the bill is misguided, targets immigrants and essentially requires hospital workers to police immigration.

Officials with the National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights called the bill “unconscionable,” saying it would hit immigrant women particularly hard and create a chilling effect on immigrants seeking critical and preventive care for themselves and their families.

“This bill would legalize harassment of immigrants and, in fact, of any woman who looks like she could be an immigrant,” stated Jessica González-Rojas, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

Under the bill, citizens from other countries would have to prove that their nation participates in the visa waiver program recognized by the United States or provide a non-immigrant U.S. visa. Those who can prove Canadian citizenship would be exempt from having to show any sort of visa.

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Please join us on live webcast or on CSPAN 2 as NAPAWF Executive Director (and NCIWR Steering Committee member), Miriam Yeung, joins the Center for American Progress (CAP)’s conversation on “Immigration Enforcement: How Children, Families and Communities are Impacted.”

NAPAWF will be discussing the devastating impacts of immigration enforcement on women, girls, and families, and will highlight our various campaigns and coalition efforts such as We Belong Together, A Wish for the Holidays, and the National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights (NCIWR).

TODAY’S Event is Broadcasted LIVE on C-SPAN 2 at 12:00pm-1:30pm

Event Details:

Immigration Enforcement: How Children, Families and Communities are Impacted

More often than not immigration enforcement is discussed in terms of numbers, such as the number of people deported or the government dollars spent each year. What often isn’t discussed are the families and communities who feel the impact of record-breaking deportations. In just the first half of last year, 46,000 parents of U.S. citizen children were deported in leaving behind single parents and their children in America. With over 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the country, and over 16 million people living in mixed-status families (with at least one U.S. citizen, and one undocumented immigrant,) deportations affect a wide swath of the population. This event will examine how deportations and immigration enforcement affects children, families, and communities at large.

This event also marks the release of “How Enhanced Immigration Enforcement Hurts Children and Families,” by University of Albany professor Joanna Dreby. Professor Dreby has completed extensive ethnographic research and interviews, to illustrate the ways in which immigration enforcement affects all immigrants, regardless of their immigration status. The paper is the third in our series “Documented the Undocumented,” which seeks to turn a lens on a population that all too often is overlooked in American life.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion about the ways in which immigration enforcement affects children, families, and the communities in which they live. The author Joanna Dreby will discuss her research on the effects of immigration actions on children and family unity, while Seth Freed Wessler will discuss his work with the Applied Research Center on U.S. citizen children who end up in foster care because of the detention or deportation of their undocumented immigrant parents. Miriam W. Yeung will discuss the “We Belong Together” campaign, an advocacy effort to increase attention on immigration enforcement issues with regard to women, children, and families. Finally Ajay Chaudry of the Department of Health and Human Services will discuss efforts by the federal government to better understand the circumstances of families being affected by immigration enforcement and help ensure the safety and well-being of all American families, regardless of their immigration status.

Featured Panelists:
Joanna Dreby, Assistant Professor of Sociology, the University of Albany

Ajay Chaudry, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretart for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Seth Freed Wessler, Investigative Reporter, Applied Research Center

Miriam Yeung, Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum

Moderator:
Philip E. Wolgin, Immigration Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress

August 20, 2012, 12:00pm – 1:30pm

Public Event; RSVP Required
Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

by Jessica González-Rojas and Miriam Yeung

Underreported in the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Arizona’s immigration law SB 1070 and a pending decision on President Obama’s health care reform due Thursday is the impact these decisions will have on the lives of immigrant women.

For too long, the experiences and perspectives of immigrant women have been consigned to the margins of policy debates, leaving many in our community out of the conversation. Yet as the recent past has demonstrated, anti-choice, anti-immigrant policymakers inevitably seek to undermine our civil rights by attacking our most marginalized first, and we must be prepared to respond.

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Vote down of PRENDA a win for immigrant women
Bill stigmatized women of color, encouraged scrutiny of women’s choices.

(New York, NY)—We applaud the members of Congress who stood up for women’s health by voting down the “Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act,” known as PRENDA.

As organizations representing thousands of women of color, and as women of color ourselves, we work every day to fight sex discrimination and racial stereotyping in all its forms.

We condemn the gender bias that can lead women to feel pressured to have a child of a particular sex. And we work everyday in our own communities to address the real problem – gender stereotyping – that can lead to this pressure.

But no woman should ever be scrutinized or interrogated by her doctor based on cultural background, and that is exactly what would happen if this bill becomes law.

This policy wouldn’t address the root causes of abortion for sex selection. It would just take away a woman’s ability to make personal, private medical decisions.

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The National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights is the leading national collaboration to specifically focus on women and gender issues in the public discourse on immigration. The coalition represents more than 60 leading organizations with a presence nationally and in every state.

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Full url: http://detentionwatchnetwork.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/dwn-members-allies-decry-ices-refusal-to-reform-scomm/

A California state legislative committee voted unanimously last week in support of a bill that will strengthen the rights of parents arrested by local police and those held for additional time because of their immigration status. The new rules are designed to combat a problem uncovered by Colorlines.com, in which parents stuck in detention are unable to remain engaged with their children in foster care.

If passed, AB 2015 would require that officers inform parents of their right to make up to three phone calls after arrest. While existing law provides for parents to make three calls, it does not require local cops to inform those booked of that right. Additionally, the law allows parents to make additional calls from jail at the time of release, transfer or because they are “held for immigration reasons.”

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To find out more about National End Racial Profiling Advocacy Week, please click here, and to learn more about ERPA, including how to watch the Congressional hearing about this piece of legislation, please click here.