Source: WUNC
Advocates and community members are pushing back against House Bill 10, a controversial Republican-backed measure that would require sheriffs to work with ICE.
Health advocates are sounding the alarm about the harmful effects of House Bill 10, if passed by the Republican-led legislature. According to NC Health News, the passage of such a bill would put North Carolina in line with states such as Florida, Texas and Iowa, which immigration law experts say have some of the harshest enforcement policies in the U.S.
Recent studies have shown the negative impact on health outcomes and access to care for communities targeted by these bills. NC Health News highlights that studies show immigration enforcement policies not only affect access to care for undocumented people, but their health implications also extend to loved ones and communities.
“I see patients every day who have delayed the health care they need because of fears related to anti-immigrant sentiments and unjust immigration enforcement,” Narges Farahi, a family physician from Durham, told NC Health News.
El Pueblo, a Latino advocacy group, called HB10 another “anti-immigrant bill” that’s based on “the false premise that immigrants are a threat to public safety when in reality they are critical to the state’s economy.”
“The Republican majority in this legislature continues to push forward extreme laws that target immigrants and punishes our community for merely existing,” Axel Herrera Ramos with the advocacy group Mi Familia en Acción stated at a rally in May. “Don’t tell me it’s about safety.”
As of May 15, HB10 hit a roadblock when state House members rejected the bill 108-3 due in part to sheriffs’ objections to changes made in the Senate, according to NC Health News. In the coming weeks, key House and Senate lawmakers will go to a conference committee to reach an agreement on the bill.
