Most immigrants living in the United States don't have health insurance and are not properly cared for in hospitals, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
In particular, a large number of the population of Illinois is Latino and lacks medical insurance, which makes it more difficult for them to receive care in the state's medical clinics, a situation similar to one facing the Amish community, since they refuse to use health services due to religious reasons.
According to The Associated Press, Susan Hays, the director of the health department, says that in Douglas County undocumented immigrants request medical attention at hospitals daily, but sometimes it's denied because they don't have insurance.
Tim Flavin, director of the Mi Raza Community Center, said that since immigrants started arriving -- most of them Mexicans, in the 1960s -- many of the companies employing them would provide medical attention.
However, most of the factories hiring undocumented immigrants provided these benefits have closed, which has forced Hispanics to seek out other jobs to find access to medical services.
Besides immigrants, many American citizens living in Illinois are uninsured. In Cook County alone, close to 18.8 percent of adults don't have any insurance; in total, 1.8 million people living in Illinois lack medical services.
Most immigrants in Illinois are Mexican, and according to demographer Rob Paral, they can't access Medicaid either, because they have a job and this means they have income greater than the program allows.
Despite this, Illinois authorities have achieved great advances with the immigrant population since they began providing temporary driving licenses in early December, which increases safety on highways.
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