Hospital not wrong in deporting patient

[IDrinkaRum]

A hospital in South Florida chartered a plan and sent a brain-dead illegal immigrant back to his home in Guatemala

This was against the wishes of the patient's family & legal guardian.

A jury found the hospital did not "act unnecessarily".

The lawsuit was brought by the patient's legal guardian (and cousin) who was requesting money so they could pay for the patient's care in Guatemala.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I see this as a perfectly reasonable thing for the hospital to do. They're not obligated to provide long term care for free for this guy. What happened to him was unfortunate, but it's not like they pulled the plug on him. They put a man who shouldn't even be here, and who was physically able to travel, on a plane and sent him back to his home country.

I mean, so what if it was against his family's wishes? Their wishes don't trump the law of whatever country they are in. If he was over here and committed a crime, well, I'm sure it would be against their wishes if he got put in jail. The dude got a heck of a lot better than he was due, he got cared for, probably for mostly free, until he was well enough to be sent home.

I did the poll so I could see the results...evidently 95% of people who also took the poll agreed with the hospital.

Suing anyone but the drunk driver that hurt him for monies for his care is ludicrous. The drunk driver owes him, and should pay for his care. But nobody else does.

[Flyndaran]

On the one hand, I don't think injury should make one immune to the law.
On the other hand, this kind of action would almost certainly lead to the death of a patient. That seems pretty damn harsh for simply wanting a better life in the states.

I hope we can all avoid derailing the thread into a discussion about brain death making the guy a non-person.

[Pedersen]

A hospital in South Florida chartered a plan and sent a brain-dead illegal immigrant back to his home in Guatemala

I hope we can all avoid derailing the thread into a discussion about brain death making the guy a non-person.

How about the fact that the patient is not brain dead, just brain damaged (which, while it still is awful, is not nearly as bad as brain dead)?

From the article: (all emphasis mine)

A South Florida hospital that quietly chartered a plane and sent a seriously brain injured illegal immigrant back to Guatemala over the objections of his family and legal guardian did not act unreasonably, a jury found Monday.

Luis Jimenez is shown in 2003, following his return to Guatemala. His cousin sued a South Florida hospital for sending the brain-damaged illegal immigrant home. A jury found the hospital acted reasonably.

Does that make a difference for anybody?

[BroomJockey]

Not me. He was obviously found stable enough to move, or they wouldn't have done it. Same as the police deporting someone after they're found out. You're not legal, you're not on the path to becoming legal, why should you get to stay, regardless of anyone's wishes?

[Boozy]

I'm pretty sure this was a Law and Order episode.

[AFPheonix]

I think the only issue that anyone can ding the hospital for was not really going through the right channels to deport the guy. A state judge approved it when it really was a federal matter.

Having said that though, it's not fair to have a hospital and by extension, those of us that use the hospital and can actually pay, to have to foot the bill for someone who isn't really supposed to be here in the first place. It's not fair to the illegal immigrant either, which is why he should have gone through the proper channels before coming here. I don't have a problem with migrant workers, I do think they play a definite role in our economy, but it's too easy for them to fall through the cracks and get abused with the way the system is set up currently.

This guy is a perfect example of why we need some serious immigrant reform. Not because they're stealin' our jerbs, but because we have a whole segment of the population that doesn't get to participate fully in society because they don't have legal papers.

[BroomJockey]

I'm pretty sure this was a Law and Order episode.

Are you kidding? That show's been on the air for over 15 years, with multiple spin-offs. EVERYTHING has been a Law and Order episode.

[Boozy]

EVERYTHING has been a Law and Order episode.

And good thing. It's how I get my news.

[BlaqueKatt]

This guy is a perfect example of why we need some serious immigrant reform.

nope we just need one simple law:

One stating that it is illegal for a company to pay an illegal immigrant less than minimum wage.

Hear me out here(put down the pitchforks and torches-please )

We have 2 immigrants-Ed who is here legally, and Sam who is not.

Without this law Company A says-"hey we can hire Sam and pay him $10 a day and he'll take it- if we hire Ed we have to pay more money. And the money we save on wages is more than enough to pay the fines if we get caught" -so they hire Sam, and all Sam's friends/family for the same wages.

With this law there is no benefit to hiring Sam over Ed because they both have to be paid the same. So company A Hires Ed and his friends, because there is no longer any incentive to hire Sam(they get caught they still have to pay the fine but they aren't saving anything on wages)-leaving Sam jobless. Sam realizes he won't get hired until he comes in via the proper legal channels-goes home and does so.

[joe hx]

So company A Hires Ed and his friends, because there is no longer any incentive to hire Sam

i understand your logic, but if a company doesn't care about the legality of their employee's immigration status, they're not going to care about minimum wage laws.

[BroomJockey]

Yeah, but the amount of shit a company would get in would be exponentially greater. Depending on area, the repercussions could be something like "Pay all back wages, plus huge ass fine." It could be "You go to jail."

[anriana]

nope we just need one simple law:

One stating that it is illegal for a company to pay an illegal immigrant less than minimum wage.

I don't get how that's already not illegal.

1. It's illegal to hire illegal immigrants.
2. It's illegal to pay less than minimum wage to non-tipped employees.

Are you saying make it super duper illegal?

[BlaqueKatt]

I don't get how that's already not illegal.

usually the employees are too scared to report being paid less than minimum wage-all the company has to worry about is getting fined for being caught hiring undocumented workers, and they save enough by paying crappy wages they still make money even with paying the fines(I believe it's around $5 grand per worker)-to them it's cost effective-however if the worker can without fear of deportation call and report the company(fifth amendment rights they could not be deported for reporting a legal violation)-the company is looking at double fines, legal sanctions, and lawsuits.

heck Wal-mart got sued under the RICO act for this very same issue.