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Free health services for illegal aliens?
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Posted on Dec 04 1998
Free Health Services for registered aliens! While it sounds profound and humane, I feel that something is really wrong with the idea: 1.) It is not helping the government with its effort to generate revenue. 2) It will not help the government with its effort to justify the grant from the compact impact, and 3) It robs the public of its tax.
In the midst of the current economic slump, it is hard to comprehend how we have managed to come up with this idea of “Free Health Services.” It is not fair for individuals, public and private, who have to pay for the same health services.
Additionally, we are so concerned about the expenses of the health services that we are providing to our fellow brothers and sisters from the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshalls but flip-flop on the same issue by giving the illegal aliens free health services. What is wrong with us?
These illegal aliens have intentionally violated CNMI Laws by not properly going through the procedure as mandated by pertinent public laws. It has been years since they intentionally eluded our laws, illegally working and not paying taxes and and denied our law abiding guests and citizens of their economic privileges. Yet, we have the tenacity to reinforce this wrong doing. This idea is an insult to the indigenous people, especially to our brothers and sisters who could not afford to make ends meet, but continue paying their hospital bills. I believe that instead of providing incentives to these illegal aliens, they should be required to pay for all the services that are being provided.
Any freebie from the government should also be accorded to those businesses or legal aliens who have and continue to comply with all pertinent CNMI laws. They deserve the incentives for their contribution to the people of the CNMI. They deserve to be awarded for diligently following the mandates of our laws. Perhaps, it might encourage the illegal ones to turn legal, knowing that there are incentives for abiding with our laws.
I am very disappointed that it is becoming very typical of our indigenous lawmakers to be wrongfully thoughtful.
Juan I. Tenorio
Concerned Abiding Citizen
