SURVEY OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SEEN IN AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

There is growing controversy regarding illegal immigrants and their us e of social services, including health care, in this country. We surve yed undocumented persons presenting at our emergency department to inv estigate the reasons why they sought care in the United States. Overal l, 227 visits (8.6%) were made in the emergency department by illegal immigrants, mostly Hispanics. Of 104 patients surveyed, all sought car e in this country because they were here at the time, and 86 (83%) int ended to remain permanently. Of the 104 persons, 83 (80%) cited lack o f funding as a reason for seeking emergency department care. Undocumen ted Hispanics had a higher uninsured rate (64%) than both Hispanics (3 2%) and non-Hispanics (30%). Of the 104 patients, 38 (36%) had difficu lty obtaining care elsewhere because of their status, 53 (51%) knew of no other sources of care, and 46 (44%) said that even if available, o nly the emergency department was acceptable. Many undocumented persons seek care in the United States because they reside here permanently, often using this emergency department as their source of care. These f indings may be important in light of recent efforts to restrict servic es for this group.