Health care and immigration reform have been the subjects of many heated debates. And whenever the two issues come together, things tend to get messy. Where do undocumented immigrants stand when it comes to President Barack Obama’s plans for health care reform?
That question can be a tricky one to answer. Obama has said repeatedly that his plans for health care reform will not provide coverage to illegal immigrants. His opponents have repeatedly called him a liar.
The politics behind health care and immigration reform are kind of confusing. I can admit that, right? My father told me that, as a college student, I should be knowledgeable in these things. I assured him that is not necessarily the case. I find some comfort in thinking that I am not alone in this.
Let’s ease into this with something we all know well; Kanye West abruptly interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards, saying he thought Beyonce should have won. Then Beyonce won Best Music Video. Then Obama, off the record, called him a “jackass.”
OK, knowing about pop culture is great, but there is certainly more to the world.
Let’s not forget South Carolina’s Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, who started the trend of interrupting outbursts three days before the VMAs. During Obama’s speech on health care reform before a joint session of Congress, Wilson yelled, “You lie!” when the president said that illegal immigrants would receive no benefit from his health care proposals.
Wilson quickly apologized and Obama accepted, saying in a televised statement, “I’m a big believer that we all make mistakes.”
Obama did not call Wilson a jackass. As far as we know.
A White House official anonymously told the Los Angeles Times, “The president has been clear since the campaign that he does not intend for health insurance reform to cover undocumented immigrants.”
Despite Wilson’s claim, none of the health care plans currently in Congress would include illegal immigrants.
“If we were politicians, this would be definitely political suicide to come out for reform for those who are undocumented,” Father Roland Lozano, pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church near Olvera Street and a supporter of all-inclusive health care, told the Los Angeles Times. “But we’re doing it because we believe … it’s what God wants us to do.”
Obama and Congress are moving toward health care reform and they seem to be leaving immigrants out of it — for now. But immigrants cannot be left in the shadows forever.
Movement must be made to reform the immigration system sooner rather than later to create pathways for citizenship, which benefit both the newly naturalized citizen and the nation.
The Los Angeles Times reported the story of Josephina Dedoy, a 58-year-old Mexico native and legal U.S. resident, whose undocumented daughter has epilepsy. When Dedoy’s husband was laid off they lost family insurance coverage. They are unable to afford private health plans and have no way to pay for treatment for their daughter.
Dedoy said she believes the president will support people like them.
“We’re waiting for the mercy of the government for those in need like us,” Dedoy said.
That is something I can understand.
Leo Portugal is a senior journalism major and a columnist for the Daily 49er.