ACTION ALERT HR 3722: Requires Emergency Rooms to Report Undocumented Immigrants

US House of Representatives to vote on HR 3722, requiring emergency
room health workers to fingerprint or photograph undocumented
immigrant patients and then call Homeland Security to begin
deportation proceedings.

Please urge your Representatives to Vote Against H.R. 3722.

Contact your Representative by phone (through the Congressional
Switchboard number, 202-224-3121)

Or go to CONTACT CONGRESS and send a letter to your Representatives.
Emailing a letter through Contact Congress will take you an estimated
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As early as next Tuesday, May 11, the House will vote on H.R. 3722, a
bill introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).

Among its provisions, H.R. 3722, the Undocumented Alien Emergency
Medical Assistance Amendments of 2004, would deny hospitals and other
health care providers reimbursement for uncompensated emergency care
they provide to undocumented immigrants unless they report those
immigrants to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Providers would thus have to verify the immigration status of all
uninsured patients presenting health care emergencies. Health care
providers would be required to transmit to DHS information including
their patients' financial data, identity of employer, and biometric
information. The Rohrabacher bill also would narrow the scope of
emergency health services available to undocumented persons and make
inability to pay medical expenses a basis for removal from the U.S.
Employers of undocumented workers whose medical expenses are
reimbursed by the federal government would be required to repay the
government for those costs.

This proposal would jeopardize the health of immigrants and the
general public. Immigrants and their families would be deterred from
seeking needed health services, including testing and treatment for
communicable diseases. Overburdened emergency health care providers
would be forced to verify the immigration status of emergency
patients, and report those believed to be undocumented to immigration
authorities, in conflict with patient privacy rights and the
fundamental principle that they refrain from harming their patients.
The bill would impose additional burdens on employers, including small
businesses, who already are required to verify the citizenship and
immigration status of workers. It also would increase the likelihood
of discrimination against persons assumed to "appear foreign" because
of their race, accent or other prohibited factors.

Judith Golub, Senior Director,
Advocacy & Public Affairs
American Immigration Lawyers Association
(202) 216-2403
jgolub [at] aila.org