And more responsibilities for taxpayers. This time it is an illegal alien fired from Pacific Steel who is demanding that taxpayers provide him with a kidney transplant. Importantly he is not demanding that of the government of Mexico. Jesus Navarro is an illegal alien from Mexico. He claims that his insurance with Kaiser Permanente is paying for his liver transplant, but Kaiser Permanente is not performing the transplant, but the taxpayer supported University of California, San Francisco, has been mau-maued into performing the surgery, in violation of transplant ethics that require transplant recipients be able to provide for the lifetime of immuno-suppressant drugs required after such surgeries.
ABC News February 2, 2012 by Ashley Jennings
Support is pouring in for a California man who was denied a kidney transplant because of his immigration status.
Jesus Navarro, an immigrant from Mexico, was on an organ donor list for six years before he received word from UC San Francisco's transplant center that he was next in line.
The day of his final consultation, doctors discovered Navarro was an illegal alien and called off surgery.
The 35-year-old's wife stepped in and offered her own kidney. She was a match, but doctors still refused to operate.
Now, city councilmen, advocacy groups and labor union leaders across the state are reaching out.
"It's really troublesome that we've gotten to a point in this country where you allow a person to die because of his so-called legal status," said Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, who also is the vice president of Glass, Molders International Union.
Councilman De La Fuente said his attorneys are working with Kaiser Permanente, Navarro's insurance company, to get him back on the operating table before it's too late.
"He has a willing donor," De La Fuente said. "He has private health care. This is ridiculous."
After an immigration audit, Navarro lost his job at Pacific Steel in Berkeley, Calif., on Jan. 3. He had been working there for 14 years. For now, his daily dialysis treatment is covered by private insurance, which runs out in February. [Note that U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement arrested non of the illegal aliens employed at Pacific Steel.]
"There's absolutely no reason for UCSF to deny the transplant based on the argument he won't have the means of providing after care," De La Fuente said. "Even when his insurance runs out, he's covered by the union for 18 months."
But that's exactly the argument UCSF is making.
Though UCSF refused to comment specifically on Navarro's case, a spokeswoman, Karin Rush-Monroe, explained the hospital's policy.
But the mau-mauing worked.
ABC News February 8, 2012 by Ashley Jennings
Dying Dad, Jesus Navarro, to Get Kidney Transplant Despite Undocumented Immigration Status
A dying California dad who was denied a kidney transplant because of his undocumented immigration status has been given a second chance at life.
University of California-San Francisco has agreed to operate on Jesus Navarro, an illegal alien from Mexico.
UCSF had originally denied surgery to Navarro in May after doctors found out he was in the country illegally, saying he couldn't provide adequate aftercare.
"UCSF was following its policy to make sure Mr. Navarro would continue to have the health insurance necessary to receive proper post-transplant follow up," the hospital said in a joint statement from UCSF's chief medical officer, Dr. Josh Adler, and Navarro today.
"Follow-up care is critical to transplant patients, who otherwise may lose the organ and become less healthy than they were on dialysis," the statement added. "UCSF regrets the misunderstanding and is committed to reviewing its processes to make sure that communication is consistent and clear with all patients, including Mr. Navarro. UCSF does not and will not discriminate on the basis of immigration status."
The decision came following a petition on Change.org that accumulated 130,000 signatures in support of Navarro's case.
The petition was started by Donald Kagan, a kidney transplant recipient whose kidney was donated by a Nicaraguan immigrant.
"Immigration status should never be a death sentence," Kagan said in a news release.
