Ailing non-citizens fear a forced deportation

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Luis Perez is concerned about being deported to Mexico because he lacks documentation as a legal resident of the United States, even though he has lived in this country for 18 years.

"I ain't got nothing in Mexico," he said.

Nearly all the members of his family live in the United States. Now 23, Perez was brought illegally into the country by his parents when he was 5.

He has two sisters and a brother who were born here, and therefore are U.S. citizens. His child was born in the United States, but his wife immigrated illegally, he said.

Perez hopes that the length of his stay in the United States will help him become a citizen.

"I don't know whether that matters or not," he said. "I think it does."

Philip A. Barr, a Birmingham lawyer who practices immigration law, said it doesn't matter how long Perez has been in the United States.

"There's a lot of misconceptions about how long you've been here," Barr said. "You could come in when you're 6 months old illegal, and you're still illegal, no matter if you live your whole life here."

There are some avenues to citizenship for Perez because he has siblings and a child who are citizens, Barr said. However, they would take several years, or Perez may not qualify because of his poor health.

But he doubts that Perez will be deported.

"I can't see them coming after some poor guy sitting up in a hospital," Barr said.

The New York Times recently reported that a Florida hospital had deported a brain-injured Guatemalan. The American Medical Association's House of Delegates voted last week to study the forced repatriation of uninsured immigrants by hospitals, and the California Medical Association recently voted to oppose such actions. Dave Parks --

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