Immigrant Access to Health Care and Public Health: An International Perspective
Author: Sana Loue, J.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. 

This article considers the extent of international migration and associated concerns for the public health and advocates for an international perspective on the provision of health care to migrants.  After discussing factors affecting the health of immigrants and exploring the role of public health, this article focuses on immigrant access to health care and specifically addresses the relationships between legal status, financial resources for health care, and access to care from such an international perspective. The author concludes that the failure to address immigrant health care in this larger international context ultimately impacts not only the individual immigrants, but their communities of origin and destination as well. 

The Immigrant Health Care Narrative and What it Tells Us About the U.S. Health Care System
Author: Brietta R. Clark, J.D. 

This article examines the political, legal, and popular discourse in favor of and against healthcare benefit restrictions for immigrants.  The author explains how this discourse creates narratives of immigrants’ character and relationship to the rest of society.  These narratives influence our perception of immigrants and their effect on society, and this perception, in turn, seems to influence the policies enacted to regulate immigrants and immigration.  However, the author points out that immigrant-specific discourse or advocacy will not solve the fundamental problems of immigrant access to care and can serve to reinforce, rather than challenge, the fundamental defects of our health care system.  Rather, this discourse can effectively serve to facilitate coalition building and advocacy to fight for meaningful and comprehensive healthcare reform that will benefit everyone.