Illegal Immigrants Seek Health Care for Kids

LOS ANGELES, June 24, 2007 — -- Going to the doctor when you are a kid can be a pretty frightening experience. For millions of families in the United States illegally, the bigger concern is often being able to see a doctor at all.

Take a look at one case: Sergio is a shy and slightly awkward 13 year old. He's been in the United States since he was a baby, but because he wasn't born here he is illegal.

Sergio was diagnosed with asthma when he was an infant. At that time, the only option his family had for healthcare was to take Sergio to the nearest emergency room.

"Every time he got sick, it was expensive," says Sergio's mother Maria. "We had to sell things to pay."

Sergio now gets his health care at Los Angeles' Venice Family Clinic. It's the nation's largest free clinic, and it cares for some 22,000 patients every year. Sergio's mom pays between $5 and $10 for every visit, but each visit costs the clinic up to $120. The difference is picked up by contributions and taxpayers.

Groups opposed to healthcare -- or any services -- for illegal immigrants say taxpayers shouldn't be picking up tab at all.

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says providing health care only encourages more illegal immigration. He also admits that denying access to health care to children is a tough call to make.

"This is a difficult, moral, ethical issue," says Stein. "But people have to realize that those who are being unfair are the parents who break our laws."

Nationwide, health care for the uninsured and undocumented costs taxpayers in the billions of dollars every year. Still, those costs represent a small slice of the overall cost of paying for the uninsured.

A 2004 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated it costs federal, state and local governments $34.6 billion to pay for medical treatment for those without insurance.