To the Editor:
The new immigrants to the U.S.A. suffer from the N.J. family care (Medicaid) requirements) by waiting as long as five years to be qualified. N.J. family care requires that adults apply for Medicaid after five years of the entry to the U.S.A. I want them to fix that for two reasons; first the requirements violate The U.S. Constitution. Second this is a health related matter which is a public concern.
First: Violate the U.S. Constitution (Bill of rights) by requiring that adults over the age of 18 are not qualified for Medicaid before they have completed five years of residency from the date of entry to the United States. This requirement violates the right to travel as a fundamental right under the privileges and immunities clause of the fourteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Also the Supreme Court stated that right to travel is protected as an individual right under the equal protection clause. A person has the right to travel from state to state as some states do not require to be a resident for a certain amount of time such as New York, so if a new immigrant lived in N.Y. then want to move to N.J. he will lose his N.Y. Medicaid and can’t apply for N.J. Medicaid if he moved before five years from entry to the U.S.A.
Second: Public Concern
The new immigrants face hardship with medical treatment because they come to the U.S.A. and look for jobs and because they speak little English and mostly have no experience or they take some time to evaluate their certificates, they accept jobs with minimum wages which is not enough to pay the monthly rents. They cannot afford to pay doctors’ visits when they become ill also they cannot do routine checkups. Some people suffered heart, liver or kidney problems and needed immediate surgeries which was covered by charity (in some hospitals) but did not cover medication, follow up and physical therapy, they had to look for support from relatives and friends, not only that but also some people had to go back to their original country in order to have medical operation that they can afford. The U.S. government offer D.V. lottery program every year to bring people to live without any preparation for them, so the U.S. Government should watch for newcomers to make sure their rights are protected and they live as human beings because so far some already felt like they are not and the U.S.A. bring people here every year to make sure that there are people for the jobs that nobody was born here will accept it.
KHALLAF ZAKI