Running head: IMMIGRANT HEALTHCARE ISSUES 1

Immigrant Healthcare Issues

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IMMIGRANT HEALTHCARE ISSUES 2

Immigrant Healthcare Issues

There has been a recent surge in the population of immigrants throughout the United

States. The state of Florida is among the most highly ranked states in terms of immigrant

population. The term immigrant is lamely used to refer to both legal immigrants such as

international students and illegal immigrants who find their way to the country through

fraudulent means. According to the US census bureau, there are about 28 million immigrants

aged between 25 to 64 years of age accounting for about 17% of the entire US population (US

Census Bureau, 2012). Although these statistics by Census Bureau account for both legal and

illegal migrants, there are about half a million illegal immigrants in Miami alone. Most of the

immigrants in Miami have come from Cuba in search of jobs with the hope of changing their

lives and that of their families. Other immigrants in the state include Latino Americans, Haitians,

Europeans, Asians, and Africans who have either entered the country legally or illegally.

Although majority of the immigrants community members have managed to obtain legal

residence permits, still a significant number of them have been able to obtain the documents and

continue to reside in the state illegally.

Most of these immigrants strive under poor living and working conditions. Most of the

immigrants are often exploited in the labour market as they are mostly paid lesser than

recommended wages. Additionally, majority of them can only manage to secure casual

employment due to their educational standards and other legal constraints that have it difficult

for them to penetrate the white collar market. Due to unfair policies that technically discriminate

against immigrants, most of them have no access to healthcare services and are at increased risk

of suffering from chronic illnesses. For example, a study by Zallman et al. (2013) found out that

most of immigrant community members across the US were at an increased risk of suffering
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from undiagnosed hypertension and hyperlipidemia. As such, most of the immigrants are at a

particular higher risk of dying from chronic illnesses. Moreover, cultural and traditional beliefs

of immigrants differ with some cultural belief predisposing immigrants to higher healthcare

risks. For instance, Ramar and Desai (2010), note that Hispanic Americans and Hispanic

immigrant community members have negative cultural beliefs about insulin therapy hence

leading to development of complications. Moreover, due to economic constraints and cultural

beliefs, most immigrants do not belief in seeking healthcare during the initial stages and will

only seek health services when symptoms have already worsened. The situation is complicated

by lack of healthcare insurance for immigrants due to legal constraints and the socio-economic

status of immigrants. Additionally, most of the immigrant community members are unable to

communicate effectively in English as most are monolingual and hence cannot effectively be

served when seeking healthcare services due to language barrier.

Immigrants in Miami reside within poor neighborhoods due to obvious economic

factors. Majority of the immigrants being casual laborers cannot afford the comfort of living in

posh residential environments. Most of the immigrants live in the crowded neighborhoods of

Dade County. The geographic climate is mostly favorable for humans. The terrain within the

residential areas and in most parts of the city is usually flat and is enhances walking and cycling.

Although, immigrants live in crowded neighborhoods moat of them are able to access green

spaces and parks that are within walking distances from their residences. However, some parks

require members to pay a small amount for park maintenance. This is a hindering factor for most

immigrants who are socio-economically disadvantaged. It was also noted that, despite their being

cycling paths along the residential areas, most of the immigrants rarely have time for exercise as
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they are caught up in other activities including having to work for long hours in order to meet

their needs.

The residential areas are also well serviced with shopping areas including supermarkets

and organic groceries. This is highly significant as it has a major impact on the community’s

health and well-being. By facilitating access to organic produce stores, majority of the immigrant

community members are able to access quality and healthy food products that promote the

community’s well-being. However, the price of organic products is high for majority of the

struggling immigrants and hence may at times resort to consumption of junk food which is at

least cheaper though unhealthy. Despite this majority of the immigrant community members

appeared to be healthy and were not severely obese as compared to the general American

population.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Miami is one of the most

polluted cities characterized by poor air quality. EPA monitors are strategically positioned

throughout the county to detect the amount of air pollutants in the environment within residential

and commercial facilities. The EPA focuses on five major pollutants which include carbon

monoxide levels, ground level ozone, the amount of particulate matter in the environment,

nitrogen oxide levels and sulfur dioxide (EPA, 2016). Pollutants in the environment and

particularly particulate matter pose the greatest threat to the well being of Miami residents

including the immigrants. The Miami-Dade water and Sewer Department (MDWASD) is

responsible for water and sewerage management. At least majority of the immigrants have access

to clean and fluorinated water thanks to the MDWASD. As already stated, majority of the

immigrant community members are casual laborers with very few owning their own businesses.

Majority of the households are capable of affording basic commodities such as food. Banks have
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also extended their services to cater for the special needs of the immigrants by facilitating access

to banking facilities which have been brought closer to the residential facilities.

Miami is a fairly safe city to live in for both immigrants and the general population. Fire

rescue services in Dade County are offered by the Fire department. The fire department is

responsible for fire protection and provision of emergency medical services to all residents

within the county. The fire department serves almost all communities and municipalities within

the city. Transport infrastructure within the county is well enhanced with both road and air

transport readily available. All city residents including immigrants are capable of requesting for

emergency medical services from the fire department at all times. Additionally, the city is

serviced by a public transit railway network that facilitates transport within the city. The Miami-

Dade police department is responsible for law enforcement, investigation, and protection of the

residents including responding to criminal emergencies. The police department can also respond

and provide emergency services to all residents as requested. The local authorities are

responsible for waste management including collection and disposal. However, solid waste

management is poorly organized within the residential neighborhoods of the immigrant

communities.

The city of Miami is governed by a mayor who is directly elected by the people through a

secret ballot system. Additional commissioners are elected by from each district to represent the

interests of their groups. Despite a section of immigrants having lived in the state for quite some

time, majority of them cannot participate in elections due to lack of legal documents for

identification. The Florida department of health is responsible for provision of healthcare

services throughout the state. However, health disparities as most healthcare needs of immigrants

are not being full met. There are active community organizations that have partnered with the
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local immigrant communities to ensure that they can have access to healthcare services despite

lacking not having any healthcare insurance cover. Moreover, these community organizations

have gone an extra mile to petition the local authorities in within Miami to guarantee Immigrants

rights including facilitating access to healthcare and formal employment. Additionally, these

community-based organizations have partnered with healthcare institutions and professionals to

provide both preventive and curative health services to immigrants.

It is evident that immigrant are highly vulnerable community members who need to be

protected. Although most immigrants have managed to obtain legal residence permits, still a

significant number of them have been able to obtain the documents and continue to reside in the

state illegally making it difficult for them to access healthcare services. Additionally, immigrants

are often exploited in the labour market as they are in most cases paid lower than normal wages.

This makes immigrants to be socio-economically disadvantaged and as such cannot afford

healthcare insurance. Therefore, most of them live in crowded neighborhood where housing is

cheap. However, community-based organizations focusing on the healthcare of immigrants and

other rights have emerged throughout Miami. On the positive side, most immigrants within the

state have access to green spaces and parks that are strategically situated within walking

distances from their residencies.

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References

Orom, H. (2015). Nativity and Perceived Healthcare Quality. Journal of Immigrant And Minority

Health, 18(3), 636-643. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015- 0218-9

Ramar, C. N., & Desai, G. J. (2010). Hispanic Americans face diabetes challenges and

complications. American Osteopathic Association Health Watch. Retrieved from

http://www.cecity.com/aoa/healthwatch/aug_10/print5.pdf

The United States Environment Protection Agency. (2016). Air Quality Index- Basics. Retrieved

from: https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqibasics.aqi

US Census Bureau. (2012). The 2011 American Community Survey. US Census Bureau,

Washington, DC, USA. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/acs/www/.

Zallman, L., Himmelstein, D. H., Woolhandler, S., Bor, D. H., Ayanian, J. Z., Wilper, A. P., &

McCormick, D. (2013). Undiagnosed and uncontrolled hypertension and hyperlipidemia

among immigrants in the US. Journal of immigrant and minority health, 15(5), 858-865.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9695-2