Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart Florida is indicative of 51 other Florida community hospitals who are also financially struggling or failing and who are facing bankruptcy due to the high cost of treating illegal immigrants (and paying ludicrous illegal alien lawsuit financial settlements) - that vast majority of which never pay for the medical treatment they or their family receives.
Stuart Florida geographical area has many typcial red flags that hospital and city administrators should have seen as a reason for the hospital's pending bankruptcy.
1) Nearby Jupiter Florida is considered a "sanctuary city" whose pro illegal anti law enforcement policies were recently exposed by a Florida lawman.
2)The local St. Peter Catholic Church encourages and supports illegal immigration into the area.
3) A taxpayer funded "hiring hall" was opened in Jupiter Florida - with the encouragement of the Catholic Charities & against the wishes of local citizens (video here) . Thus they city provided a taxpayer funded site for lawbreakers - (that the community would likely never consider or fund for their own American teenagers) and produced a draw for even more illegals to move into the Martin Memorial Hospital area:
"The El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center was the town's solution for stopping ''migrant workers'' from lining the streets each day to wait for employers to drive by and hire them. Sometimes as many as 100 ''day laborers'' gathered each morning. Neighborhood residents complained they blocked traffic, scared people and created a public nuisance. So, backed by legal opinions that said the center did not violate any laws, the town of Jupiter bought a building next to town hall and the police station for $1.9 million and encouraged Catholic Charities, along with the migrant advocacy group Corn Maya and community volunteers, to lease it for $1 a year, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel."
4) Florida (an other US states) agricultural businesses, such as citrus and sugar growers, balk at having to go through the steps for legal immigrant "guest worker" labor and providing transportation, housing, etc for legal laborers. Thus they seem to prefer to continue attracting and hiring cheap illegal immigrant labor. But they also feel increasingly compelled to go the "legal" route since illegal immigration has become a "hot button issue".
Goldstein estimated that U.S. agriculture companies have 2.5 million foreign workers, about 60 percent of whom are illegal....Local (FL) citrus growers who have recently begun using H-2A agreed that, despite the burden of red tape, the program is the only viable alternative (from using illegal immigrants) for recruiting a stable labor force....
5) According to CBS news - across the USA there are at least 300,000 "anchor babies" born each year - clearly many of these babies are born - without payment to hospitals - and ultimately at taxpayer's expense. Florida hospitals undoubtedly are affected. Also "the latest estimated costs of educating the children of illegal aliens, many of whom were anchor babies, is out and it is set at an astounding $28.6 billion per year to the taxpayers of the United States. - Floridian taxpayers are undoubtedly paying their "fair" share.
A recent Rasmussen survey shows that American's opinion, toward illegal immigration, has little changed since last year's overwhelming public rejection of the proposed McCain Kennedy (amnesty) legislation. "63% believe that border security is more important than amnesty". Americans still overwhelmingly welcome LEGAL immigrants. Yet, there is plenty of outrage at illegal immigrants who flagrantly break US laws as well as many produce anchor babies who allow them to tap into taxpayer paid welfare benefits.
The cost of illegal immigration is high - see here and the cost of jailing illegal immigrants for both immigration status as well as crimes committed other than violation of immigration laws is astronomical - a quick search will produce countless states and cities that are buckling under the cost of illegal alien incarceration.
Why should more taxpayer be further penalized by having to provide their hard earned money to be used to bail out Florida hospitals? Especially when the crisis is directly caused by the clear dereliction of duty of the localities city officials who refused to demand that US immigration laws be enforced? Many like Marco Rubio, below, want to hide the deleterious effects of rampant illegal immigration. It should also be noted that the illegal immigrant is not faultless. The vast majority are adults who willingly and knowingly break US laws to sneak into the USA consistently do not want to take responsibility for their own bad choices. So again the question is asked - why should we?
entire article
Feds Ignore Hospital’s Illegal Immigrant Reports
A Florida hospital administrator whose facility is overwhelmed with the exorbitant cost of treating illegal immigrants told state lawmakers that federal authorities usually ignore when the hospital reports illegal immigrants.
Testifying before a state House committee, the frustrated Martin Memorial Medical Center official also told legislators that the hospital has spent more than a quarter of a million dollars to fight a lawsuit from an uninsured illegal immigrant returned to his native country after racking up a $1.5 million bill.
The lawsuit has further burdened the south Florida facility already overwhelmed with sick and uninsured illegal immigrants. It involves a Guatemalan Mayan farm worker who was hospitalized for 3 ½ years at the Stuart facility with severe brain injuries sustained in a car wash.
After receiving a judge’s permission, the hospital put him on a plane back to Guatemala in 2003 and it has been fighting a costly legal battle since. The case was appealed in 2006 and is still pending in south Florida’s Martin County. This means the hospital’s legal bills will continue mounting.
The facility has also spent a substantial amount of money treating a brain damaged illegal immigrant from Mexico for the past two years and officials estimate that half of the 2,170 births last year were to illegal immigrants. That, of course, means no insurance and no money to pay for the costly medical tab.
The recent House testimony got practically no media coverage and was attended by only a few people at the state capitol in Tallahassee. After all, Florida’s House Speaker, Marco Rubio, is an ardent defender of illegal immigrants who certainly doesn’t want to publicize the dark side of illegal immigration or the huge toll it’s having on his state.
from alan west's webpage
Allen West(R) for U.S. Congress
Welcome to Allen West's campaign for Florida's 22nd Congressional District! This site will give you the opportunity to learn more about Allen and his vision for the future of America. Please take a moment to learn more about Allen West and then take action to help Allen's campaign!
Dear Friends,
We face many challenges as a nation. From the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to illegal immigration, to energy independence, to out of control federal spending, now more than ever we need leaders in Congress who represent our South Florida values.
My 22 years of service in the U.S. Army have taught me that America is a country unlike any other, and that our way of life is worth protecting. In Congress, I will put my experience to work for our national security and honor my oath to the US Constitution by protecting our borders and enforcing our immigration laws. I will fight to lower taxes and reduce the size of federal government. I will be an advocate for policies that spur our economy and job creation, and will protect small business by cutting senseless regulations that cost jobs and increase overhead. And I will be a champion for reducing our dependence on foreign sources of oil, promoting energy independence while preserving our coastlines and farmland.
Thank you for visiting my campaign website. I am confident that as you learn more about my background and vision, you will agree my values and leadership are what our community needs in Washington during this important time in our history. Your support means a great deal to me.
In your service,
LTC Allen B. West, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Here is one of your answers to the problems you face by over illegal immigration in Florida.
Posted by: american gal | July 05, 2008 at 10:03 PM
Why nobody started regulating and enforcing laws after the 1986 amnesty.Just because theres alot of work that not even americans want to do,Why? Because they want to be paid at least 15.00 hourly and they do the half work than inmigrants.
Posted by: jean | November 03, 2008 at 01:14 AM
I agree this is really interesting and helpful report, provided data explained in this report is reliable and true.
Posted by: vastgoed vlaanderen | March 04, 2009 at 05:31 AM
Hospital.com is one of the largest informational databases and online news publication for Hospitals across the country. It contains great information on common issues in hospitals across the country and breaking news on events effecting hospitals across the country. It will also contain informative streaming footage from every hospital willing to participate, taking users on a virtual tour around the hospital, enabling users to visually review the hospital for them self, making their choice of hospital a much easier one. We would love for you to list our site and offer the great information we've made available to your large viewing public.
Sincerely,
Internet Outreach Team
hospital.com
Posted by: Erica Roseland | November 19, 2009 at 11:34 AM
I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST ILLEGAL ALIENS BUT I DO BELIEVE THEY SHOULD PAY BEFORE GETTING TREATED ANYWHERE. I ASSURE YOU IF THEY ASK THEM TO PAY THEY WOULD PAY REGARDLESS, IF ITS THAT IMPORTANT. BUT THIS WOULD BE THE ONLY TOPIC I AGREE TO INFORCE MORE LAWS INTO. BUT ALSO BELIEVE IF THE ILLEGALS HAS FAMILY HERE AND MARRIED TO A CITIZEN THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO STAY, BUT NOT THOSE WHO ARE ILLEGAL AND BRING THERE WIFES HERE ILLEGAL TOO.
Posted by: CITIZEN | January 07, 2010 at 11:28 PM