Nebraska governor rejects prenatal care funding for illegal immigrants
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman vetoed a proposal to restore Medicaid-funded prenatal care for illegal immigrants on Friday, but the initiative could still survive if the state legislature rejects his move next week.
Nebraska state senators voted 31-15 on Wednesday to restore the program, which was eliminated two years ago after providing prenatal care for decades.
The number of votes in favor was one more than would be needed to override the veto and the Nebraska legislature has one day left in its current session - next Wednesday - in which to do so.
“I oppose providing taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants,” Heineman said in his veto letter.
Heineman, who is anti-abortion, also said he had “grave concerns” that some funding could go to abortion provider Planned Parenthood and that Nebraska could become a sanctuary for illegal immigrants because no bordering states offered similar coverage.
About 1,600 low-income women were affected when Nebraska eliminated the program in 2010. About half were illegal immigrants and others were women who lost benefits for failing to comply with all requirements. Coverage was later restored for legal residents and others who do not qualify for Medicaid.
Religious, anti-abortion and health groups have called on Nebraska to restore the coverage, saying it was morally right and fiscally prudent. The state must pay for birth defects and other complications suffered by children who are U.S. citizens upon birth and qualify for taxpayer-funded health care.
Studies from 2000 and 2001 concluded that immigrants decided where to live based on the availability of jobs and the proximity of family members. Welfare benefits, the studies concluded, were not a factor.
Two immigration advocates in Nebraska and a third from a national center said they know of no studies that link tax-funded prenatal care with prompting illegal immigrants to move to a certain state.
“The idea that a pregnant woman would search around the county, independent of any other need, for a state that offers prenatal services seems far-fetched to me,” said Tanya Broder, a senior staff attorney with the California-based National Immigration Law Center.
Restoring the program would cost about $650,000 in state funds, plus $1.9 million in federal money annually. The tax-funded care has been estimated at $1,500 to $2,000 per mother.
Heineman, who has opposed the bill from the start, told a news conference on Tuesday the legislation would give “illegals” a bigger financial break than middle-class taxpayers. He has said he plans to take the provided five days to decide whether to sign the bill.
Heineman, who is anti-abortion, said the bill is about fairness. He says Nebraska would become a magnet for illegal immigrants who learn the state provides the coverage, which is not provided by any bordering states.
Supporters of the bill have said the $650,000 cost is less than the $800,000 medical bill for one child - paid by Nebraska taxpayers - whose health problems were caused by the lack of prenatal care for an immigrant mother in one case since 2010.
Mancuso and others also cited a 2001 study, “The Integration of Immigrant Families in the United States,” which concluded that jobs, and not generous social safety nets, prompted immigrants to settle where they did.
That study also concluded that illegal immigrant families grew four times faster in states that offered less-generous public benefits than in those offering relatively ample safety nets, because more jobs were available, Mancuso said.
“Proximity to other family members and jobs, that’s how most of us decide where to live,” Mancuso said. “And immigrant families are no different.”
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(Reuters)