Thread: Immigrant says her deportation will cost taxpayers

Immigrant says her deportation will cost taxpayers
Lucila Huerta of Madera is caring for her ill husband.
By Vanessa Colón / The Fresno Bee10/13/08 22:42:31

Federal immigration officials want to kick Lucila Huerta out of the country. Doing so, her attorneys say, might prove costly for taxpayers.
Huerta, an illegal immigrant, is providing round-the-clock care for her husband, Guadalupe Huerta, a U.S. citizen living in Madera. He lies bedridden in their tiny Madera apartment, suffering from the lung disease called Valley fever and paralyzed by meningitis.

Without her help, the couple's attorneys say, Guadalupe Huerta would have nowhere else to go but a nursing home. Medi-Cal, the state-federal health insurance program for low-income residents, would pick up the tab at about $82 to $95 a day -- and much more if the 43-year-old Madera man is hospitalized.

The couple and their supporters held a news conference Monday to plead their case to the public. They've already asked immigration officials to allow her to remain in the United States on humanitarian grounds. If immigration officials turn her down, Lucila Huerta, 49, would be deported Wednesday.

"I tell him he has to fight to get better because I might have to leave," she said. "It pains me to see him like this."

Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the couple's request is being reviewed. Kice said the agency will look at all aspects of the case, including her initial removal from the United States.

But Rick Oltman, national media director of Californians for Population Stabilization, a group that favors immigration limits, believes the government has no choice but to deport her.

"She will have to go back. I'm sorry for the husband, but we can't be making exceptions for every hard case," Oltman said. "Everyone who is here illegally needs to pay attention to this."

Lucila Huerta said she first tried to enter the United States with someone else's documents in 1999 and was caught at the California-Mexico border. Five days later, she snuck across at Tijuana.

Lucila met Guadalupe Huerta in 2000 at the Madera restaurant where she worked, and they married in 2001. He operated a farm tractor in the Chowchilla area.

But he was already ill. Lucila Huerta said they thought it was a minor ailment that would pass. Instead, she said, it got worse.

Guadalupe Huerta has been in and out of emergency rooms since 2004. In 2005, his family persuaded him to go to Mexico, where they hoped to take care of him. His wife was against him going and she remained behind in the U.S.

But his health deteriorated, and he quickly returned to the U.S. He was immediately hospitalized at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center with meningitis, an inflammation of brain and spinal cord tissue. He couldn't talk or move his head when he arrived in Los Angeles, according to Huerta's lawyers.

After 2 1/2 months at the Los Angeles hospital, Guadalupe Huerta returned to Madera, paralyzed and in need of constant care.

Lucila Huerta began providing that care, feeding her husband, cleaning him, turning him to avoid bedsores, injecting him with twice-daily doses of antibiotics.

"He depends on her a lot, not just physically but emotionally. I've been a witness in his improvement," said Noel Aguirre, a supporter of the Huertas and pastor of their church in Madera. "He's strong right now, but he's strong because of her."

Lucila Huerta was unnoticed by federal immigration officials until, urged by her husband, she applied for a green card and went to an immigration consultant in 2006. That's what brought Huerta's illegal status to the attention of immigration officers, said attorney Camille Cook, who is helping the family.

Because she re-entered the country illegally, Huerta was subject to a 10-year bar from entering the United States, Cook said. She wasn't eligible for a green card.

"Her only choice would have been to remain living in the United States without a [legal] status and wait until there's some kind of immigration reform," Cook said.

The Huertas, with the aid of attorneys, their pastor and medical officials in Madera, are now trying to persuade immigration officials to allow her to stay in the U.S. A key part of their argument is his medical condition, and the cost to taxpayers to take care of him if his wife can't.

"Should she be deported, Mr. Huerta will require immediate institutional placement forever," said a letter in support of the couple's case, written by Gail Rowell, director of continuity of care at Madera Community Hospital. Rowell said a hospital stay could run $800 to $1,500 a day -- although Medi-Cal typically pays less than other insurance.

The prospect of moving to a nursing home worries Guadalupe Huerta, who wants his wife to care for him.

"I think I will get worse if I go to a facility," Guadalupe Huerta said. "I'd like to stay home. She gives me a lot of confidence and encouragement."

http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local-new ... 33724.html

Get these fools out of our country. He has already cost taxpayers too much with his medical care, I'm sure.

The more they talk the faster we should act to deport them. I am getting sick of these morons making fools out of us.

She can take just as good care of him in Mexico as she can here. Nothing is preventing him from going there if he wants to be with her so badly.

Valley Fever has no cure. Your body either fights the fungus or it doesn't. Anti-fungal drugs are extremely expensive and only holds the fungus at bay until your immune system can keep it in check.

Valley Fever is well known in Northern Mexico. The doctors in Mexico know just about as much about how to treat it there as they do here. If his paralyses is permanent and due to Valley Fever meningitis, then his condition shouldn't get any worse if he is still on anti-fungal treatment. As long as he can still get his medications, which are a lot cheaper in Mexico than they are here, he should do fine. (Many people from the USA get their Valley Fever medications in TJ if their insurance won't pay for it). They're just using this as an excuse to let her stay here illegally. The court needs to get some infectious disease doctors from Bakersfield, CA or Tucson, AZ to evaluate this mans condition. He has a choice to go into a nursing home here or follow his wife to Mexico. It's as simple as that.

Federal immigration officials want to kick Lucila Huerta out of the country. Doing so, her attorneys say, might prove costly for taxpayers.

I'm willing to take that risk.......get her out of here. She's an illegal alien FELON who has displayed a predisposition to identity fraud, complete disregard for the laws of this country, has, no doubt, used a stolen identity to work in this country, and has cost us plenty already.


Without her help, the couple's attorneys say, Guadalupe Huerta would have nowhere else to go but a nursing home. Medi-Cal, the state-federal health insurance program for low-income residents, would pick up the tab at about $82 to $95 a day -- and much more if the 43-year-old Madera man is hospitalized.

Oh really? Prove where this man will absolutely require placement in a nursing home if his wife is deported, because, to put it bluntly, I think you are full of crap.

I happen to have a friend who is an RN and she is assigned to patients on state funded insurance as part of a nursing team assigned to provide the round the clock care they need.

Further, when my husband suddenly became ill several years ago, requiring extensive intestinal surgery to save his life, he qualified for state funded insurance. When he was finally released from the hospital to come home, there were some things which we could not take care of ourselves because they required medical training. He had RNs come in 4 times a day....all of them either coming from, or going to, their regular shifts to provide round the clock care for oher patients they were assigned to in our immediate area. And they all worked for the agency in our area contracted with the state to provide this care.

All states pretty much have the same programs, with different names, since they are federally funded. So why will this man have to go into a nursing home if his wife is deported when others seem to have no difficulty receiving the round the clock care they need at home?

And are we not continually hearing, in cases such as this, about how state funded insurance does NOT cover extended stays in nursing homes? Isn't that why hospitals are constantly left with indigent patients....paralyzed, comatose, etc.........who should be moved to nursing homes because there is nothing more the hospitals can do for them, but they cannot be moved to other facilities?



Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the couple's request is being reviewed. Kice said the agency will look at all aspects of the case, including her initial removal from the United States.


She's had her day in court. She's had her due process. She's had since 2006 to bring up this issue of being her husband's caregiver and it's only come up now......with days before she's due to be deported?

I smell a rat.







Guadalupe Huerta has been in and out of emergency rooms since 2004. In 2005, his family persuaded him to go to Mexico, where they hoped to take care of him. His wife was against him going and she remained behind in the U.S.


BUT.....as we see above.....his adoring little wifey had no qualms about refusing to go back to Mexico with him when his wish was to go home and be with his family, now did she?

Just how devoted and caring is this woman when she chose to remain here illegally, for her own selfish reasons, while her husband...ill and wanting to be with family.....returned to Mexico alone? Shouldn't she have put what he wanted above what she did if she cares so much?

.I'm not being unsympathetic because no one should have such a thing happen to them. However, there is nothing preventing him from going back to Mexico with her where he will also be with the rest of his family as he has done once already.

This hag doesn't care about anybody or anything but herself.....and no doubt whatever money it is he has coming in from Social Security and who knows what else which, were he to pass away, would put an end to her free ride if she were not legalized and still living here.

I agree azwreath, she should be deported and he can go with her to be near his family too. Case closed.

They need to go on to Mexico. And the 18 years olds who entered the country illegally at six years old needs to self deport, too. I had a person telling me the sob story yesterday of a friend of hers. I was firm and said, "she has to leave and get in line, too."

Why is it okay for Mexican citizens to come here illegally but not okay for American citizens to go to Mexico legally?

She can take her husband to Mexico and care for him there.

Federal immigration officials want to kick Lucila Huerta out of the country. Doing so, her attorneys say, might prove costly for taxpayers.

Haven't we already payed enough? Time to let their home country foot the bill. I wish I did not have to pay $7000. a year for medical plus a $40 co-payment every time we need to see a Dr.

Lucila Huerta said she first tried to enter the United States with someone else's documents in 1999 and was caught at the California-Mexico border. Five days later, she snuck across at Tijuana.

This woman is already getting a break! As I understand it, this woman is not eligible for US Citizenship for a period of 99 years because of her attempt to illegally enter this country with fradulent documents.

Deportation should be the least of this woman's problems! I want to know why they are not prosecuting her for an illegal re-entry!

think for one second this would play out like this for a citizen?