Manatee officials argue over illegal immigration's effects on local hospitals, governments

Manatee County officials gathered Tuesday for a special meeting to discuss any economic impact potential illegal immigration may have on local hospitals and government agencies.

The meeting drew criticism from the Manatee County Democratic Party, which issued a written statement chastising the meeting as divisive and calling for federal legislators to take a bipartisan approach toward immigration policy reform.

"It is disappointing to witness our elected officials prioritize divisive rhetoric and partisan gamesmanship over the well-being of Manatee County residents," the Democratic party stated. "If the board truly cares about immigration reform, we urge them to direct their efforts where they can make a meaningful impact: advocating for bipartisan immigration reform at the federal level."

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In response, Manatee County Chair Mike Rahn told the Herald-Tribune the meeting was meant as a way to assess the impact illegal immigration could have on the local community.

"That's real money we could use to improve schools, reduce traffic and purchase environmentally sensitive lands for preservation," Rahn said.

Manatee Memorial Hospital CEO says illegal immigrants cost Florida hospitals

Manatee Memorial Hospital CEO Tom McDougal told the Manatee County board that Florida hospitals are bearing significant costs for care for illegal immigrants.

McDougal iterated multiple times that the for-profit Manatee Memorial is among them, and took issue with the low amount of government funding for elective healthcare programs often leveraged by both undocumented and local uninsured residents.

The hospital received $2.7 million from Manatee County in 2023, but McDougal said the hospital does not have an agreement for indigent funding from the county for 2024.

McDougal attributed growth in charity, indigent and uninsured care costs predominantly to illegal immigration. The hospital spent $21.2 million in 2023, compared to $14.4 million in 2021.

"As of today, we don't have an agreement with the county," he said. "The funds that are available don't even scratch the surface on the actual costs that we are incurring, so we are still trying to work that out."

McDougal cited state figures that show Manatee as one of the counties where hospitals have been impacted most heavily by illegal immigration. The state estimates about $12.43 million was spent to care for 577 admissions and 3,582 ER visits made by illegal immigrants to Manatee County hospitals.

Last year, the state implemented new laws that require health care organizations to request that patients disclose their citizenship status. Between July and December, Manatee Memorial tended to 4,428 emergency room patients who identified as illegal.

"That's a significant portion," McDougal said. "Just the cost of that care alone, for those patients that said they were here illegally, is exceeding $4 million… We don't get paid for that care, so that is a growing problem."

He estimates about $17.9 million per year in costs for unfunded care services, which amounts to a $15.2 million annual shortfall once the county's $2.7 million in funding is factored in.

McDougal said the hospital has already started to cut back on services.

Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge empathized with the hospital's care for funding but also iterated complexities because Manatee Memorial Hospital is a for-profit organization.

"We do not want to see the citizens of this county lose care options," Van Ostenbridge said. "You have a great hospital that you're operating, we want it to continue to provide that same level of service to our constituents."

Law enforcement says they don't have the authority to arrest

Law enforcement officials said their hands are largely tied, and that the onus to enforce immigration laws remains with federal authorities even when an undocumented individual is arrested.

"We have no authority to arrest them based upon that status, no authorization whatsoever," Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said. "We can arrest them for a crime that they have committed, just like everyone else. Even though entering the country illegally is a crime, we have no authority to arrest them for that."

He said the Sheriff's Office can place a detainer on undocumented immigrants when release is imminent, but that it is up to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on any further legal actions such as deportation.

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State Attorney Ed Brodsky said the judicial system has similar limitations.

"Even if we find out, we know and we are informed that the individual is an illegal alien, as part of my sentence, as part of my negotiation with that defendant… we don't have the authority to ask the state judge to, as a condition or as a portion of a sentence, that he must be deported," Brodsky said.

"That is a federal immigration issue, and as a state court we don't have that authority and the state judges don't have that authority either," he said. "What we have to do, and I've done this while I've been in court, I've contacted immigration authorities, ICE, and we've had them come to the courthouse to remove them or take them into custody."

Manatee County School Board says it's struggling to find qualified bilingual employees

School Board of Manatee County Chair Chad Choate said the federal government does not allow school districts to collect citizenship information about students, yet presented the number of English language learners in school as indicative on the impact immigrants have on schools.

Choate said about 16% of students in the district are English language learners, which he said is about 7,000 or 8,000 kids. He said the district has a difficult time finding qualified, bilingual, paraprofessionals to fill vacancies in ELL and ESL classrooms.

Commissioner George Kruse criticized the figures and pointed out that not every English language learner is an undocumented immigrant, and in fact, are likely U.S. citizens despite their primary language.

"That's all kids that have English as a second language," Kruse said. "So, for the sake of this discussion, what we are attempting to extrapolate is anyone who speaks English as a second language is inherently an illegal alien?"

Manatee County EMS points to sources of illegal fentanyl

Manatee County Director of Public Safety Jodie Fiske said undocumented immigrants factor into potential impacts on Emergency Medical Services through increased demand for emergency medical care for non-emergent reasons, language and cultural barriers during field operations.

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EMS does not collect citizenship status information, so Fisk instead presented national figures related to opioids and the amount of fentanyl deaths, indicating that Mexico and China are the primary sources for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.

She presented a chart from the 2022 Medical Examiners Commission Drug Report that shows Manatee County had between 25 to 40 fentanyl deaths per 100,000 residents in 2022.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Manatee County officials argue over illegal immigration's effects