Without insurance, immigrant patients may face unregulated medical deportation'

"Scattered across it are bottles of deodorant and conditioner that he sends back to the Dominican Republic, a Spanish-language Bible and a plastic medical brace for his wife, Solibel Olaverria. Olaverria began having intense headaches and vomiting five months after she joined her husband in the U.S. In the emergency room, she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm; during surgery to stop it from rupturing, she suffered a stroke and was induced into a coma."

"In February 2023, Clase said, hospital administrators suggested transporting his still-comatose wife to a facility back in the Dominican Republic an option he refused. They told me that they could send her back to my country, he said even without his consent. At that moment, she was missing a piece of her skull. If they put her in an airplane or a helicopter, it was possible that she would die."

"Though the federal government is the only entity with the jurisdiction to remove people from the U.S., hospitals across the nation sometimes return uninsured noncitizen patients in need of long-term care to their countries of origin. Advocates call this medical deportation."

Junior Clase cares for his wife, Solibel Olaverria, who developed a brain aneurysm, suffered a stroke during emergency surgery, and was rendered comatose. Clase declined a hospital suggestion to transfer his still-comatose wife to a facility in the Dominican Republic because she was missing part of her skull and transport could be fatal. Clase keeps items at home intended for sending to the Dominican Republic and a medical brace for his wife. Although federal authorities hold formal removal power, hospitals nationwide sometimes discharge or transfer uninsured noncitizen patients abroad, a practice described by advocates as medical deportation.

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