HYATTSVILLE, Md. - Maryland's Hispanic community has grown to about 10 percent of the total population, and many don't have health insurance.
A collaborative effort is under way in Maryland to provide health care to those who can't afford it. The focus is on Prince George's County, which has the highest rate of uninsured residents in Maryland.
In the Hispanic community, about 87 percent of adults lack medical insurance.
La Clínica del Pueblo and Doctors Community Hospital have teamed up to offer preventive and specialty care at a new location next to the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station.
Alicia Wilson is executive director at La Clínica. She says the collaboration will lead to healthier people.
"Before, our providers would send someone to a specialist and keep their fingers crossed that they might get a report back," says Wilson. "Or a hospital would discharge someone and keep their fingers crossed that patient could get plugged into a primary-care provider."
Wilson says there's a severe shortage of primary care doctors in Maryland, especially those who speak Spanish and who will serve the uninsured. The new clinic will open in June.
Wilson says Maryland's Hispanic community has increased dramatically in the past 15 years and she expects more collaborations like this across the state.
"The Affordable Care Act has really ushered in a new way of doing business," says Wilson. "And in Maryland in particular there are some opportunities to sort of build a continuum of care and not have hospitals and primary care and specialists all living in different universes."
Wilson says some of the funding for the clinic came from the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission, CareFirst and private foundations.
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A new report looked into the recent shift in immigration enforcement, especially at the immigrant detention center in Tacoma.
The University of Washington's Center for Human Rights' report "The Border is Everywhere" found immigration arrests have started to tick back up after falling at the start of the pandemic.
Angelina Godoy, director of the center, said fewer of the arrests are transfers from jails or prisons in Washington and Oregon like they were in the past.
"We see a lot of the more recent arrests happening on ICE check-ins or when folks who have arrived from the southern border are coming here and starting to comply with the process that ICE required them to do in terms of following up on their case," Godoy observed. "That's when they're brought into custody."
Godoy noted Washington and Oregon have passed "sanctuary state" legislation, which has reduced the number of transfers. But other factors are making the average length of stay at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma longer than other detention centers across the country.
The report found bond is granted in a fewer percentage of cases and relief from deportation is denied on more occasions at the Northwest Detention Center than nationwide. Godoy acknowledged there is a perception the Northwest is more friendly to immigrants.
"They might imagine that the conditions here would be better than elsewhere," Godoy explained. "In fact, what we're seeing in report after report is that's not the case."
Godoy emphasized organizations like La Resistencia, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Washington Immigration Solidarity Network are fighting to improve conditions for people in detention in the region. However, she argued immigration enforcement should be a big issue for everyone in the country.
"A lot of inhumanity is occurring and it's occurring on our watch," Godoy added. "This is something that all of us need to be concerned about and taking action to improve."
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A new report found undocumented immigrants are paying substantial taxes in Maryland and nationwide.
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found undocumented migrants paid more than $96 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, with Maryland seeing more than $770 million of tax revenue.
Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said narratives around how migrants are impacting the nation do not always stand up to scrutiny.
"I think we're able to dispel a lot of myths around this one-sided idea that undocumented immigrants are claiming benefits and not paying any taxes," Davis contended. "It's really not tethered to reality."
With some undocumented workers being paid under the table, the study found if migrants had access to legal status such as a guest worker program, the states and localities would realize an additional $7 billion in tax revenue annually, while adding another $33 billion in federal revenue.
The report showed more than a third of the total paid by undocumented workers goes toward payroll taxes such as Medicare, Social Security and unemployment insurance, programs the same workers are unable to access. With presidential campaign rhetoric often focused on the topic of immigration, Davis noted big policy changes would impact the economy.
"If we're going to dramatically change course on immigration policy, say through ramping up deportations, for example, that's really going to shrink the size of the labor force at a time when a lot of industries are already struggling to fill the positions they have available," Davis emphasized.
While some undocumented immigrants own homes, most rent, and the report found migrants were paying more than $10 billion in property taxes either directly or indirectly via payments to landlords. The study reported most undocumented adults have lived in the U.S. for 16 years or more.
"By and large, these are people who are trying to put down roots and are trying to have a better life for themselves and for their families," Davis added. "These are folks who have been here for quite a while, and who are really contributing to the economy and to our funding of our public services in significant ways."
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As immigration takes center stage this election season, a new study revealed the significant tax contributions made by undocumented immigrants.
The essential workers added nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, including nearly $16 million in Maine.
James Myall, analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy, said the money helps support public infrastructure and services.
"Even folks who are here without documented status are still contributing to the fabric of our communities," Myall pointed out. "Paying in taxes to state and local government."
Myall argued granting more work authorizations to undocumented immigrants in Maine would increase their tax payments by nearly $4 million and reduce reliance on public assistance. Maine's congressional delegation has been pushing for faster work permits but bipartisan legislation remains stalled in the Senate.
With nearly two jobs available for every applicant, Maine companies are looking to immigrants to fill important roles, including in the state's iconic lobster industry, as more workers head toward retirement.
Myall emphasized with one of the oldest populations in the U.S., Maine should welcome everyone who wants to work.
"The direct care sector, in hospitality, in health care," Myall outlined. "In some of these vital sections of our economy - immigrants are helping to fill that gap."
Maine officials say the state will need 75,000 new workers by 2029 to remain economically viable. Earlier this year, Gov. Janet Mills signed a supplemental budget, which included funding to create an Office of New Americans, to help "new Mainers" with resettlement and integration.
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