One Year Later, Arizona Law Keeps Families from Getting Public Benefits News Report, Valeria Fernández, Posted: Nov 22, 2010

PHOENIX -- One year after it became law, a measure created to fight alleged fraud committed by undocumented immigrants applying for public benefits, is hurting those who actually qualify for the services.

HB 2008 went into effect on Nov. 24, 2009, requiring state agencies, cities and government employees in Arizona to report to immigration authorities anyone they considered to be in the country illegally. Under the law, government workers could face up to four months in jail if they fail to report someone.

Unlike SB 1070, another controversial law aimed at making undocumented immigrants subject to incarceration, there was no public debate on HB 2008. It was approved quietly as part of budget negotiations by conservative Republicans including Rep. Senator Russell Pearce, and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer.

Advocates argue its implementation has affected U.S. citizen-children of both undocumented and legal immigrants, and created a chilling effect on families to obtain essential healthcare services they qualify for.

Valle del Sol, a non-profit organization that provides prevention services and case management to Latinos, filed a discrimination complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) against the main agencies enforcing this law.

The complaint, which was submitted in August, details anecdotal cases of immigrant parents being intimidated by state workers. Immigrants claim they were asked about their immigration status when they tried to apply for a service. In one instance, a mother said she was asked for a U.S-issued ID when applying for healthcare for her developmentally delayed 15-month-old child. She claims that she was not told that she could use her foreign consular ID instead. When she saw a report on a local Spanish TV station that said immigrants could now be deported if they applied for benefits, she never returned to the government office, unaware for six months that her child had been approved for health insurance.

“These children are born in this country. Therefore they are entitled to the benefits, regardless of their parents’ status,â€