Immigrants will be asked whether they are in the country legally if they seek hospital care in Florida as a new law goes into effect July 1.
While they are not required to answer such questions, the impact of the new immigration law, one of the toughest in the country, is heightening people's concerns, according to a June 26 Florida Times-Union report.
No hospital or health system has the right to refuse care if they accept Medicaid, said Ashley Hamill, attorney and director of the Family and Immigration Rights Center in Tallahassee.
"A hospital cannot discriminate based on someone's immigration status," she said. "This hospital provision is not about immigration enforcement between the hospitals and the federal government, it's about data enforcement."
But other advocates are urging any immigrant, regardless of their status, not to answer the question.
"We want to make it harder for them to indicate who is undocumented," said Yesica Ramirez, an organizer with the Farmworker Association of Florida.