Philadelphia is on track to becoming the first city in the U.S. to ban medical deportations, according to a CBS News report.
On Dec. 14, Philadelphia City Council voted 14-1 to advance a bill that makes it illegal for a hospital to send a noncitizen to their home country without consent. The bill now awaits the mayor's signature.
Adrianna Torres-Garcia, deputy director of immigrant advocacy group Free Migration Project, told CBS News that hospitals are paying "up to $50,000 per flight to get people to another country because they don't want to provide care."
If patients or their caregivers sign off, hospitals would still be allowed to send an injured or ill noncitizen patient from the U.S. to their home country.