Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Philadelphia leads the way on ending medical deportations

Patient in a hospital bed

"Hospitals around the country should not be in the business of sending their patients somewhere else to die because they don’t want to pay for care," writes Martinez.

skaman306/Getty Images

Martínez is a leader in Philadelphia’s End Medical Deportation campaign.

On Dec. 14, 2023, members of the End Medical Deportation Coalition celebrated a dream three years in the making: outlawing private medical deportations in my city of Philadelphia.

I am proud of the Philadelphia leaders creating history once again as the first city in the country to ban medical deportations. Due to the support of Councilmember Jim Harrity and the entire council body, we now have a law that prevents hospitals from repatriating immigrant patients without consent, requires all materials regarding medical reparations to be translated and gives victims of medical deportations the right to sue hospitals for harm.


We shouldn’t underestimate the importance of this landmark law. Hospitals around the country should not be in the business of sending their patients somewhere else to die because they don’t want to pay for care. It’s that simple. I hope our leadership persuades other cities to follow our example across the country.

Of course I am aware of the fact that hospitals face serious financial strain due to the upsurge in the need to care for undocumented workers who most often do not have medical insurance. Hospitals can serve an important purpose in advocating for comprehensive immigration reform to address health care access and the exploding costs. This is the role they should be playing as opposed to any involvement in deporting their patients.

Medical deportations happen when hospitals send seriously ill, undocumented patients out of the country to a deeply uncertain future. I know firsthand how devastating this practice is because it almost happened to my family. In June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, a Philadelphia hospital attempted to deport my uncle after he was hit by a motorcycle while walking as a pedestrian. At the time they wanted to deport him he was bedridden and unconscious, had fractures in his ribs and legs, was on a feeding tube, and was still recovering from traumatic head injuries. My uncle would have died if he had been deported to Guatemala. I repeatedly told the hospital that. My family and I were against it and did not consent to his transport. My uncle had lived in Philadelphia for 20 years. His support network was here.

The hospital continued to ignore us until the community rallied around my uncle. Thanks to that support, my uncle is alive today. He was able to receive the medical treatment he needed in Philadelphia thanks to advocates who pushed the hospital to help him apply for Emergency Medical Assistance.

This situation profoundly affected my family, and that is why I asked the Philadelphia City Council to support ]Harrity’s legislation. Since sharing my story I’ve learned of other cases of medical deportation in Allentown, where a hospital tried to send a comatose mother to the Dominican Republic, and elsewhere around the nation. It must stop.

Philadelphia’s new law sets a model for the nation by providing much needed oversight of the practice of medical repatriation. It ensures patients and families get the in-language information they need to make the best decision for care; to fully consent to any medical repatriation. When the hospital wanted to deport my uncle, they did not give me all the information in my language, which is necessary to make such important decisions.

Most importantly, this law makes sure there are ways to hold bad actors accountable. It creates the pathway for the city to enforce this legislation, levy fines on those who violate patient's rights, and require reporting from hospitals to monitor how widespread the practice of medical deportation is.

No one should be thrown away for needing health care. We all deserve access to it. No hospital in Philadelphia or anywhere in America should separate a sick or injured person from their support network. The values of this city that my uncle and I call home are rooted in welcoming everyone and centering brotherhood. Medical deportation is not consistent with those values, which is why it’s time to end it not just in Philadelphia, but across the United States. I am so proud of our leadership here and look forward to seeing it spread across the country.

Read More

Hostages Freed, Questions Remain: Trump’s Role and the Cost of Binary Politics

U.S. President Donald Trump, September 18, 2025.

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Hostages Freed, Questions Remain: Trump’s Role and the Cost of Binary Politics

In February of this year, Kristina Becvar and I published a column in The Fulcrum reaffirming our mission amid a barrage of executive orders from the Trump Administration. We sought to clarify our role—not as partisan commentators, but as stewards of fact-based reporting and healthy self-governance.

We wrote then:

Keep ReadingShow less
From Nixon to Trump: How Scandals Reshape Power, Not Justice

Richard Nixon circa 1983.

(Photo by Images Press/IMAGES/Getty Images)

From Nixon to Trump: How Scandals Reshape Power, Not Justice

The American political system flatters itself with tales of enduring resilience. We are told that each scandal is a crucible, a test from which the republic emerges tougher, wiser, and better fortified. The institutions bend, the story goes, but they do not break. The narrative is comforting because it suggests that corruption is always self-limiting, that crisis is always purgative, that turmoil survived is justice fortified.

But the record tells another story. Scandal after scandal has not made American democracy sturdier. It has hollowed it out, teaching the powerful not restraint, but ever-shrewder ways to transgress.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump speaking

Donald Trump speaks at at Madison Square Garden in New York, 2024

Peter W. Stevenson /The Washington Post via Getty Images

The Trump Era: A Bitter Pill for American Renewal

In the column, "Is Donald Trump Right?", Fulcrum Executive Editor, Hugo Balta, wrote:

For millions of Americans, President Trump’s second term isn’t a threat to democracy—it’s the fulfillment of a promise they believe was long overdue.

Keep ReadingShow less
A person misting water on their indoor plants.

Indoor air can be 10x more polluted than outside. Learn how to reduce toxins in your home with non-toxic carpets, natural materials, and air-purifying plants.

Getty Images, DuKai photographer

Natural Alternatives To Hidden Toxins in Home Furnishings

Did you know that indoor air quality can be 10 times worse than outside? This reality calls for a reassessment of our home product choices.

I’m buying a new carpet for our home. I was amazed by the many healthy alternatives to traditional carpets. I’m grateful to see how much carpet manufacturers have improved their products to offer non-toxic alternatives. What’s surprising is that they made these changes without the guidance of government policies and regulations.

Keep ReadingShow less