Racism

Republican Outreach

It's time for another episode of Republican Outreach which, not-coincidentally, is brought to us by Arizona.

Arizona Republicans have introduced a bill which I would characterize as "Papers Please" for healthcare.

Hospitals would need to check the immigration status of uninsured patients under a new bill introduced by an Arizona lawmaker. Rep. Steve Smith’s (R) H.B. 2293 would require hospital staff to “reasonably confirm” patients’ status during check-in or treatment, and immediately report those who do not have the required papers to immigration officials.

Smith claimed it is a hospital’s civic duty to check immigration status.

My immediate thought is that this would invariably lead to entirely-legal citizens having their "papers" checked out of suspicion.

According to ThinkProgress, local hospitals have resoundingly rejected the idea, and it seems unlikely to me that this will become law, but proposals like this should be not forgotten in the future as voters go to the polls.

And in case you missed it, the agreed-upon strategy that emerged from the Republican retreat held last week at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia. -- a former plantation -- is to continue offering the same policy proposals as they have in the past but to do so with a smile. The retreat was reportedly focused entirely on outreach to women and minorities.