Speech #1100052773

What are we going to say in the situation where we have battered womenwhich is taking place today in too many communities across this country? It is a reality. We might not like it. but it is a reality. and many of the people who are being battered happen to be immigrants. undocumented individuals. What are they going to do after they are getting beaten and beaten and beaten and they go on in to try to get some medical care? Oh. no. Well. you are undocumented. so we are going to report you for deportation. Report to deport. That is the Coleman amendment: Report to deporttrying. in these situations. to meet the immediate needs. WhTat is going to happen to the migrant. the undocumented. who sees a crime. knows the people. is prepared to make sure the gangs who are distributing drugsthey are a witness to a crime in the community and they go down to the police department and the first thing the police officer says is: Well. you look like you are undocumented. Lets see your papers. and they arrest the person. rather than solving the crime. rather than stopping the gang. So this is. I think. false security and unnecessary. We will have a chance to address that. As we mentioned earlier. the amendment would prevent the local governments from having the flexibility to reassure fearful immigrant communities it is safe to come forward for programs that are absolutely essential to public health and safety. If the immigrant families are afraid to access the key public health interventions. such as immunization or screening for communicable disease. the public health consequences for the entire community are severe. When the Nation is attempting to be prepared for the threat of biological terrorism or serious influenza epidemic. this is a dangerous policy. Local governments need the flexibility to keep the entire community safe. Public health workers should not be enforcers. Public health workers should not be enforcers of immigration law. This can create a massive fear of the health care system and upset the trust of a patientdoctor relationship that many public health workers have worked to build among the immigrant community for years. Further. social service and health care providers are unlikely to be familiar with the complex and constantly changing immigration laws. which would be needed to determine a patients status and for which they would have to undergo extensive training. I have listened to the Members of the Senate talk about the 1986 immigration laws like they understood it and knew what they were talking about. How in the world are we going to expect the local policeman or the local nurse or the local doctor to understand it when on the floor of the Senate they do not even understand it? What are going to be the implications?