Changing Employer Sanctions in Immigration Policy to Accommodate Undocumented Immigrants

Healthcare and Undocumented Immigrants
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Healthcare and Undocumented Immigrants
Immigration and healthcare are among the most debated topics in the US presently, considering their impacts on various policies. The number of immigrants keeps increasing globally, and the US is not exempted. Presently, the US federal law instills limitations on the privileges that immigrants, especially the undocumented ones, can enjoy while living within the nation’s boundaries. Part of the limitations to undocumented immigrants is access to healthcare. The current law does not allow undocumented immigrants to have access to healthcare services or insurance coverages as other US citizens do. That has triggered a debate considering the health implications associated with poor access to healthcare services. As immigration remains a federal issue while healthcare is a state policy issue, there are disagreements on what policy changes to initiate to achieve the best outcomes for undocumented immigrants. This paper suggests immigration policy change at the federal level and insightful changes in the state healthcare policies reach the demands of universal healthcare for every person. Changing the employer sanctions in the immigration policy should steer a congruent healthcare reform to accommodate undocumented immigrants without further burden, as evident in a few states such as California.
Background
The issue of undocumented immigrants should be accorded more attention bearing the current state of immigration in the US. There were 10.4 million undocumented immigrants in the US as of 2019. That number represents 3% of the US population (Ro & Jennifer, 2021). The issue of illegal immigration into the US is one that the nation has grappled with for a long time. In 2011, 40 million people, or 13% of the US population, were born outside the US borders. The unauthorized immigrants, those who entered the nation illegally or those with expired visas, continue to have their numbers escalate despite the new policies aimed at closing the US borders. Latin America contributes to the largest number of immigrants to the US. Approximately 35% of all immigrants come from Latin America. Half of all the immigrants from Latin America are from Mexico. The US also has immigrants from Asia (28%), 12% from Europe, 4% from Africa, and 2% from North America, and 1% from Oceania (Ro & Jennifer, 2021). Immigrants come to the US from all over the world.
The number of undocumented immigrants is spread throughout the US states with notable variations in some regions. Half of the unauthorized immigrants are concentrated in New York, Florida, Texas, and California. The numbers also vary by gender, with women accounting for 47% of undocumented immigrants (Ro & Jennifer, 2021). The number of undocumented children is 10% due to the 4th Amendment granting US citizenship to children born in America. As such, most children who live in unauthorized families are American citizens. Even by virtue of being American citizens, children from families headed by unauthorized immigrants are more likely to lack healthcare insurance. It is worth remarking that most unauthorized immigrants live in the US for long durations. Ei...