Unclear how many immigrants use available services
By TRACY PANZER Staff writer
Chambersburg Public Opinion

Public education and emergency medical care are the only benefits illegal immigrants are eligible to receive.

Other benefits, including welfare and food stamps, are not an option for those who choose to enter the United States illegally.

"What I always want to emphasize is that the folks who come from these countries don't have welfare," said Margaret Brewer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Latino Organizations. "They're not looking to sponge off our system. Instead, they're looking to survive, and support their families."

While it's unclear how many immigrants enter the country illegally, it's just as unclear how many are using the services available to them.

Joseph Padasak, superintendent of Chambersburg Area School District, said the Hispanic population has more than quadrupled in his schools over the past decade (from 2.18 percent in 1996-97 to 9.33 percent in '06-07). But he said the district has no record of who might or might not be illegal.

"We're required to educate every child who walks through our doors," he said. "That's what we do. No questions asked."

It's the same at Keystone Health Services, a center that provides medical care to residents of all income levels, and Summit Health.

Joanne Cochran, director of the center, said it's evident the Hispanic population is growing in town, and that her services are being used more and more each year.

Although Cochran doesn't have concrete numbers, she said it's her opinion that a "very small number" of immigrants are here illegally. "People think (immigrants) are here with their hands out," Cochran said, "and that's just not true."

While most services are only available to legal U.S. residents, Congressman Bill Shuster said illegal immigrants somehow "get into the programs."

He said its common to hear of a pregnant woman coming across the border from another country, only to give birth in the United States. That child -- sometimes called an anchor baby -- is then a U.S. citizen, and entitled by law to all available services.

It was estimated in California in 1994 that 74,987 anchor babies were delivered at a cost of $215 million, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The group says that number has since nearly doubled.

"It's critical to the future of our country, and certainly to the present with all the costs involved when tax dollars are paying for hospitalization and education, that we get a handle on this problem," said James Taylor, chair of the local Republican party.

Immigrants are often uninsured or underinsured, according to FAIR, and 43 percent of non-citizens under 65 have no health insurance.

"The cost of the medical care of these uninsured immigrants is passed onto the taxpayer, and strains the financial stability of the health care community," FAIR reported.

Shuster calls this a ripple effect, explaining that the unreimbursed medical expenses impact all aspects of the economy, including the law abiding, legal citizen.

"This is why it's so important to deal with the issues today," Shuster said. "It's a question of efficiency, and determining just how many people are here illegally. The procedures, steps and processes also need to be streamlined."

FAIR reports that "another problem is immigrants' use of hospital and emergency services rather than preventative medical care." The organization said illegal aliens use hospital services more than twice as much as the overall U.S. population (29 percent compared to 11 percent).

Cochran tells a different story.

"The Hispanics in this community are very hardworking. In fact most don't just have one job, they have two," she said. "They work that hard just to keep their family healthy and well. The Hispanics in this community always keep their appointments, and take their health care seriously."

FAIR estimates the cost of unreimbursed medical care in 2004 in California was nearly $1.4 billion a year, and $.85 billion a year in Texas.

"One of the frequent costs to U.S. taxpayers is delivery of babies to illegal alien mothers," FAIR reported.

Summit Health -- which operates Chambersburg and Waynesboro hospitals -- did not provide figures regarding ethnicity or legality of its patients.

"We treat everyone who comes to us with health-care needs, especially through our emergency rooms," said Sheran White, director of public relations at Summit Health. "We don't keep records on immigrants, and we wouldn't know if someone was an immigrant, either legal or illegal."

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Tracy Panzer can be reached at tpanzer@publicopinionnews.com or 262-4754.


The agencies and what they do

Federal agencies and their role in immigration changed dramatically with the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in March of 2003.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) operated for years under the U.S. Department of Justice. The INS was the lead agency in immigration until it was dissolved and became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2003.

Under the Department of Homeland Security, the responsibilities of the INS were broken down into three different agencies:

- The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) grants citizenship and legal residence, in addition to processing visas, refugee and asylum applications.

- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) oversees border protection and international trade.

- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for investigating and enforcing violations of immigration law. ICE also works with other law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard.

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