摘要：The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 greatly restricts the provision of many federal, state, and local public services to undocumented immigrants. These restrictions have prompted intense debates about the provision of free and discounted primary and preventive health careservices and have placed significant burdens on institutions that serve large undocumented immigrant populations. Intended to serve as a tool for reducing illegal immigration and protecting public resources, federal restrictions on undocumented immigrants’ access to publicly financed health services unduly burden health care providers and threaten the public’s health. These deleterious effects warrant the public health community’s support of strategies designed to sustain provision of health services irrespective of immigration status. THE FEDERAL PERSONAL Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 greatly restricts the provision of many federal, state, and local publicly funded services to undocumented immigrants. Many public health and health care institutions have wrestled with the legal, administrative, and ethical conflicts generated by these limitations. The debate has been most visible in the state of Texas, where the legality of several public hospitals’ provision of free primary and preventive health care to undocumented immigrants has been challenged. Instead of serving their intended purpose of reducing illegal immigration and conserving public resources, PRWORA’s restrictions on undocumented immigrants’ access to publicly financed health services unduly burden health care providers and threaten the health of the community at large. These deleterious effects warrant the public health community’s support of strategies to both repeal these restrictions and sustain the provision of health services irrespective of immigration status.
