South Florida Hospital Secretly Deports Brain Damaged Patient Back To Guatemala

Six years ago, Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart, Florida chartered a private plane to send patient Luis Jimenez back to Guatemala - without alerting the United States or the man’s relatives. Hey, free trip!

Eventually discovering what was going on, Jimenez’s cousin and legal guardian, Montejo Gaspar, tried in vain to stop the flight and then sued the hospital for essentially unlawfully deporting his relative, who was indeed in the U.S. illegally. 

The case brings up the question of what - legally and ethically - should occur when an undocumented individual requires long-term and expensive medical care for which he cannot pay. And, going back to Obama’s decision to expand 287(g) programs, this event also brings up a discussion of whether hospitals and the state can or should take it upon themselves to deport an individual.

Others bring up how this country should deal with the inevitable illness and injuries sustained by the thousands of undocumented workers that keep the economy going. Also of interest? Why a hospital, if confident of its actions, would deport a patient secretly, without alerting authorities or relatives.

Fla. hospital defends secretly deporting patient [Yahoo! News]