Ads Cite Immigration Driven Hospital Crisis In California

CAPS Calls on Governor To Follow AZ, NM and Declare State of Emergency

Santa Barbara, CA—August 23, 2005

A leading California population organization has launched an ad campaign highlighting the crisis in California’s health care system as a result of mass immigration. The campaign focuses on Kern County, California, identified as the sixth worst county in the nation for access to health care. The campaign follows the governors of New Mexico and Arizona recently declaring a state of emergency due to the out of control illegal immigration situation on their borders.

Diana Hull, CAPS President, commented “What’s taking place in Kern County is occurring all over California. And what’s happening in California is now occurring in other states like New Mexico and Arizona. If mass immigration isn’t drastically slowed, it’s just a matter of time before the effects become similarly pronounced throughout the rest of the country.”

Hull also said California should have declared a state of emergency a long time ago. “More than 60 hospitals have closed. Emergency rooms are closing and waits just get longer, much due to illegal aliens unpaid medical bills. Violent crime gangs run by illegal aliens are proliferating. Our schools are some of the worst in the country. If any state should declare a state of emergency, it’s California. I hope our governor is strong enough to begin addressing this issue aggressively.”

The TV spots employ a visual of a heart monitor as the announcer tells the audience, “ more than 60 California hospitals have died and 24 more could die any day.” The spots specifically mention Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, identified by the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems as an institution that’s experienced major financial troubles due to its heavy load of patients who don’t pay. As the TV spot ends, the heart monitor flat lines and the announcer concludes, “If our hospitals die, who will take care of us?”

Some theorize the escalating problems on the borders are the result of a “border rush” caused by the McCain/Kennedy Guest Worker/Amnesty bill, giving amnesty to up to 10 million illegal aliens if they pay $2,000. Hull said, “John McCain is dead wrong on this one. Yes, it will give cheap labor to his corporate campaign contributors but it will also depress wages for our working class which is already struggling.”