Arizona bill could mandate immigration status checks in hospitals
State Republicans say answering would be optional
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — If you’re facing a medical emergency and need to go to the hospital, a bill making its way through the Arizona legislature could have hospital staff questioning your legal status.
SB 1268 passed the Senate and needs to pass the House before going to the governor’s desk. The bill essentially would mandate hospitals to ask if you are a citizen of the United States.
A post on the state’s Republican Caucus website says SB 1268 would “require hospitals to include a section on their patient admission form giving individuals the option to indicate whether they are lawfully present in the United States.”
“Incredibly pernicious. You know it, it sounds like they just want to know whether someone is a U.S. citizen or has legal status. A concern would be, is this on its face just an exercise in information gathering or something that’s going to expose people to ICE enforcement or to being reported to the authorities,” said Arizona Immigration Attorney Darius Amiri. “This definitely would be unprecedented, it would be new territory.”
Amiri feels this bill would immediately be challenged in court should it pass.
The bill’s sponsor, Wendy Rogers, spoke in a hearing back in February on how the bill would not impact greater medical care.
“It does not deny care to anyone, answering is optional. There are no immigration consequences,” said Rogers.
The post from the state’s Republican Caucus explains the bill aims to track Medicaid spending and hopes to uncover if tax dollars are being used to treat people who are in the country illegally.
“This bill will help us obtain real data on the impacts of illegal immigration on healthcare services, while still protecting patient privacy so that we can make informed decisions on how to tackle this problem. I will continue to advocate for this crucial measure, as it moves through the legislative process, to ensure that Arizona’s healthcare system remains sustainable and responsive to the needs of its lawful citizens,” Rogers wrote in the post.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
