Florida should reject E-Verify. Immigrants with coronavirus might not seek care | Opinion

With at least 14 deaths in the United States and 3,464 deaths worldwide, the novel coronavirus is rapidly spreading — and Florida is no exception.

With at least 22 deaths in the United States and 3,893 deaths worldwide, the novel coronavirus is rapidly spreading — and Florida is no exception. Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a public health state of emergency, and 1,104 people have been monitored in the state with 18 people testing positive for coronavirus and two deaths.

As the coronavirus looms over our state, public officials should be doing everything in their power to slow its deadly contamination. That means encouraging residents to remain as healthy as possible by actively seeking medical care to control their chronic conditions, improving their overall health by getting screened for preventable diseases and following preventive recommendations such as getting the flu vaccine.

Focusing on enhanced immigration enforcement policies and provisions like those found in the mandatory E-Verify awaiting a final vote in the Florida Legislature will not only distract our focus from those efforts but also it will that discourage individuals from seeking medical attention if they do fall ill.

If passed, the newly amended Senate version of the E-Verify mandate would force the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) to act as an arm of federal immigration enforcement by reporting to ICE any allegation that unauthorized workers have been employed. There are no criteria for what would make an allegation credible, which opens the door for retaliatory and hateful complaints coming from a competitor, a disgruntled former employee or racial profiling.

In medical practices, patients are asked about their employment to assess environmental risks of disease. We would not want our patients to be frightened by those medical questions. In our community health center, we provide care regardless of the patients’ immigration status. We don’t want them to fear coming to us.

Research shows that shifting immigration policies are leading to immigrant communities’ substantially increased fear and mistrust of government officials and agencies, affecting undocumented immigrants as well as those who lawfully are living in the United States and children who are U.S. citizens. This, in turn, has caused immigrant families to retreat from public spaces and forgo services to which they and their children are entitled — including medical care.

The elderly and people with chronic diseases will continue to be more susceptible if they don’t take measures to control their medical conditions and access life-saving medication. For example, an uncontrolled diabetic is considered to be immuno-compromised, therefore more susceptible and vulnerable to illnesses such as the flu or the coronavirus. This poses a serious risk to our collective public health as the state works to contain the deadly virus.

Elected officials must wake up and recognize that declaring a public-health emergency won’t be enough to save Floridians. We need to actively encourage trust in public health personnel and institutions, not steer people away from them. Politically motivated policies, such as E-Verify, that target our communities and instill fear in them not only are counterproductive, but destructive to all Floridians’ well-being.

Dr. Deborah Gracia is chief medical officer for Borinquen Medical Centers.