America's Voice Blog

Posted 02/04/09 at 06:08pm By Paco Fabian

Kids Health Bill: A Thank You to Congress

schip thank youAs we speak SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, is being signed into law by President Barack Obama. The bill will provide access to health care for millions of children across the country. Importantly, the bill passed with provisions for lawfully-present immigrant children firmly intact.

When it passed out of the Senate last week, the New York Times reported:

One of the most significant sections of the child health bill would allow states to use federal money to cover children and pregnant women who are legal immigrants. Under existing law, legal immigrants are generally barred from Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program for five years after they enter the United States.

"The bill would end an inequity that we have been trying to eradicate for more than a decade," said Jennifer M. Ng'andu, a health policy specialist at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic rights group.

Thanks to the leadership of Congress and the Obama Administration, the most vulnerable among us-including immigrant children-will now have access to the critical medical care they deserve.  The White House and Congress are standing up for what's right, and moving forward on common sense solutions that help all Americans. 

Click here for the full page ad we helped sponsor in today's Politico (pictured to the right). We look forward to working with the new Congress to tackle broader reforms needed to get America back on track, like comprehensive immigration reform.

The full list of ad sponsors are: National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, Mexican American Legal Defese & Educational Fund, National Council of La Raza, Center for Community Change, America's Voice Education Fund, Immigration Policy Center, National Immigration Forum, National Immigration Law Center, and the Service Employees International Union.

Posted 01/30/09 at 06:47pm By Paco Fabian

Breaking Down the Kids Health Bill (SCHIP) Vote

schipAs we reported last night, the SCHIP kids health bill passed out of the Senate with provisions for legal immigrant children intact, despite heated opposition from Republican Senators. Here's what DemFromCT of Daily Kos had to say:

Bickering over legal immigrants marred the bipartisan support for the bill. Both Republican and Democratic parties are awkwardly feeling their way toward the new political reality in DC, which includes the desire for compromise, the fear of failure, the need to occasionally posture, and the need to pass effective legislation (and sometimes those realities will clash.)

Bickering is a nice way of putting it.

In reality, Republican Senators and Representatives filed amendment after amendment to gut provisions that would allow lawfully present immigrant kids to see a doctor. In effect, denying hundreds of thousands of eligible Latino and immigrant children access to health care in order to sound "tough on immigrants."

Thankfully they failed.

Thank you to everyone who sent a fax through our website - your voice made a huge difference. In the end, the bill was approved by all Senate Democrats and seven Republicans.  In the House, all but two Democrats voted for the bill, as did forty Republicans. The bill now moves forward without the hard-line amendments.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Speaker Nancy Pelsoi (D-CA) should be praised for their leadership on on this. Republican Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) fought to move the bill forward with provisions for lawfully-present immigrant children intact.

As we discussed last night, the SCHIP amendment process should be a strong wake-up call for the new Congress:

It now serves as an illustration of how our Congressional Representatives will be forced to fight a succession of painful proxy-battles over immigration in the absence of a clear leadership strategy to get comprehensive immigration reform done early and well.

Posted 01/30/09 at 12:53am By Jackie Mahendra

Victory: Immigrant Kids Included in SCHIP

Happy SCHIP BabyBREAKING: SCHIP just passed out of the U.S. Senate. Thanks to all of your faxes and phone calls, the kids health bill now moves on to be signed into law with the provisions for lawfully-present immigrant children firmly intact. All four hard-line immigration amendments were voted down by a voice vote this week.

The New York Times reports:

One of the most significant sections of the child health bill would allow states to use federal money to cover children and pregnant women who are legal immigrants. Under existing law, legal immigrants are generally barred from Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program for five years after they enter the United States.

"The bill would end an inequity that we have been trying to eradicate for more than a decade," said Jennifer M. Ng'andu, a health policy specialist at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic rights group.

As we reported in, "GOP Hispanic Outreach Team Locked in Closet During SCHIP Debate," many Republican Senators put forward amendments this week to try to poison the bill's passage by forcing a lengthy and heated debate about immigration:

As reported by National Public Radio today,  Sen. Ensign and other Republicans are voicing strong opposition to provisions in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill that would allow legal immigrant children to access health care without a five year waiting period.  His colleagues, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), have already filed amendments to gut the provisions. 

While all of these, and a host of other, extreme amendments failed, the SCHIP amendment process should be an "aha moment" for the new Congress. It now serves as an illustration of how our Congressional Representatives will be forced to fight a succession of painful proxy-battles over immigration in the absence of a clear leadership strategy to get comprehensive immigration reform done early and well.

 

Posted 01/15/09 at 08:06pm By Frank Sharry

Sen. Ensign and GOP Embrace Hispanics By Demonizing Their Kids

Potential SCHIP Baby Well, he was definitely with us... before he was against us.

Just last week, The Hill quoted Senator Ensign (R-Nev.):

"Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), who last year oversaw the Senate Republican campaign committee, said Republicans hashed out the need to reverse their slide in support among Hispanics. ‘It was discussed big time,' said Ensign. "We have to reach out to Hispanics. We need to go on Hispanic media much more.'"

We were impressed with this change of heart. Especially given the Senator's blatant efforts, as head of the  Senate Republican campaign committee, to forge GOP victories on the backs of ugly anti-immigrant campaign slogans. Despite the spectacular failure of this strategy in 2006, the good Senator tried again in 2008-and lost big.

Well, today marked the beginning of the Senate SCHIP debate, where lawmakers decided whether to include qualified legal immigrant kids for medical care under the popular legislation. Led by Senator John Ensign (R-NV), Senate Republicans have proven yet again that their addiction to wedge politics reigns supreme.

Rather than lend a helping hand to children in need, check out this exchange between SCHIP hero Senator Rockefeller (D-WV) and Senator Ensign, via the AP:

"I believe no lawfully present child in this country should be required to wait five years before they get health care," Rockefeller said.

But Republicans said that extending health coverage to newly arrived immigrants would encourage people to come to the United States for its government benefits.

"We are giving more incentives to folks to come to the United States not just to participate in the American dream, but to get on the government dole," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

"That's a gloomy way to look at human nature," Rockefeller said.

Senator Ensign, accusing hardworking immigrants whose children qualify for needed health care of coming to this country "to go on the government dole" is a slap in the face. This is yet another piece of evidence that many Republicans seem to have learned nothing from the stunning failure of immigration as a wedge issue in the last election. Even the ones who claimed to want to "reach out to Hispanics" just can't seem to break the habit of immigrant-bashing.

Here's a tip for Senator Ensign when he goes on his Hispanic outreach tour: you might want to start with not demonizing their children.

Posted 01/14/09 at 05:35pm By Jackie Mahendra

Decisive House Victory for Kids’ Health Bill Should Inform Senate Vote

baby health care

The swift, decisive re-authorization of a health care bill aimed at America's poorest kids, including lawfully present immigrant children, was a clear victory today in the U.S. House. A statement from President-Elect Obama shows just how urgent legislation like SCHIP (as the bill is known) is during times like these:

"In this moment of crisis, ensuring that every child in America has access to affordable health care is not just good economic policy, but a moral obligation we hold as parents and citizens."

Even better news for immigrants?

While some legislators were angling to remove the "ICHIA" section of the legislation, which covers lawfully present immigrant children and pregnant women, SCHIP moved forward with the provision firmly intact. This means no more five-year ban for immigrant children in desperate need of medical treatment, if enacted.

Clearly, a new day for immigrants is dawning.

Click here to see how your representative voted (and don't forget to thank them for supporting the legislation).

The Senate would be wise to follow the House's lead, especially that of Speaker of the House Pelosi (D-CA), Congressman Becerra (D-CA), and Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R - FL), in moving forward similar legislation that includes immigrant children. There will no doubt be pressure on Senators from anti-immigrant groups to peel off major portions of the bill. As America's Voice Executive Director Frank Sharry wrote yesterday in the Huffington Post:

Our country has demanded change and the results of the 2008 election were clear. The American public is looking for solutions to tough problems, not more of the same. We hope that the GOP has taken notice of this new reality and will rise above hateful rhetoric to do what is right for our country. The political survival of their Party, not to mention the health of our nation's children, depends on it.

Let's hope that our Senators are paying attention and cast a vote for America's future as decisively as the US House did today.

Posted 01/13/09 at 03:42pm By Frank Sharry

Healthcare or Hatespeech? SCHIP Early Test for GOP

Doctors check littlest patientThis week the House is will vote on reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the Senate Finance Committee will take up much-needed companion legislation to help more Latino and immigrant children access health care. Besides being the right thing to do, and even the fiscally responsible thing to do, this legislation will be a watershed moment for the GOP.

The Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) bill would eliminate the five year wait legal immigrant children must currently endure before qualifying for health coverage.  Republicans now face a unique opportunity to challenge the perception that they are anti-immigrant by passing it. 

Just yesterday, President Bush admitted that it "may be" fair to say that Republicans "don't like immigrants-" or at least that they're seen as such. From his final press conference in office yesterday: 

BUSH: Take, for example, the immigration debate. That's obviously a highly contentious issue. And the problem with the initial outcome of the debate was some people said, "well, Republicans don't like immigrants." Now, that may be fair or unfair, but that's the image that came out. And if, you know, the image is "we don't like immigrants," then there's probably someone else out there saying, "well, if they don't like immigrants, they probably don't like me as well."

Can we expect less rabble-rousing on immigration from Lou Dobbs and his posse? Unlikely, but by allowing legal immigrant children the access to the critical health care that they deserve, the GOP will be taking a step in the right direction. Yesterday's New York Times quotes Jennifer Ng'andu, a health policy specialist at NCLR:

"Children should not be forced to wait five years for health care," said Jennifer M. Ng'andu, a health policy specialist at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic rights group. "Five years is a lifetime to a child."

Will the GOP rise to meet the challenge head on, or will they continue to appease the most extreme elements among their ranks by resorting to demonizing immigrant children and pregnant women? 

If they do the latter, they risk becoming a regional party for decades to come. 

Our country has demanded change and the results of the 2008 election were clear. The American public is looking for solutions to tough problems, not more of the same.   We hope that the GOP has taken notice of this new reality and will rise above hateful rhetoric to do what is right for our country.  The political survival of their Party, not to mention the health of our nation's children, depends on it.