Healthcare and Illegal Immigrants - was Joe Wilson Right?

In his address to a Joint Session of Congress President Obama flatly stated that illegal immigrants would not be covered under any of the proposed health care reform bills. In reaction to this Representative Joe Wilson (R - South Carolina) shouted "You Lie!" This was, of course, a breach of decorum, but it begs the question. Was he right?

Well, that depends on what your definition of a lie is. Politicians don't actually lie. They may equivocate, misspeak, be misinformed or be "economical with the truth", and so on, but lie is a bad word in politics. It is so bad that prior to Representative Wilson's outburst I don't think the word had ever been openly uttered on the floor of the House Chamber. In the real world in order for someone to tell a lie there have to be two things present: The statement must be untrue, and the speaker must know that it is untrue when he or she makes the statement. So let's look at the facts and determine what the truth is.

There are currently five bills or proposals in various stages of consideration covering health care reform. This does not include the Republican proposals which stand no chance of ever reaching the floor. Three of these bills seem to have the most support, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.B. 3200), Senate Finance Committee America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, and Senate HELP Committee Affordable Health Choices Act. None of these bills mention immigrants, illegal or otherwise and the pundits will say that this means that illegal immigrants would not be covered. Unfortunately there is something that people forget to mention. It's called the Constitution.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution states, "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws". This is known as the Equal Protection Clause and although it specifically says "...no state shall..." it applies to the Federal Government as well. Under the Equal Protection Clause all laws apply to all persons equally. It is important to understand that it says person, not citizen. This is why the children of illegal immigrants can attend public schools, even if they are illegal themselves. The law requires compulsory education and the law applies equally to all persons without regard to their status. This was affirmed in the case of Plyler v. Doe (1982) in which the Tyler, Texas Board of Education attempted to charge tuition for the children of illegal immigrants. In a 5-4 decision the court ruled that such action violated the Equal Protection Clause.[1]

Therefore under this decision, if any reform package includes a public option funded through taxpayer dollars it must allow equal access to illegal immigrants. Even if in a political grandstand Congress installs provisions specifically denying coverage to illegal immigrants they will do so with full knowledge that those restrictions will be overturned in the courts. Then they can return to their angry constituents with the excuse that they tried to do the right thing but the courts overruled them.

Since we have established that any public option healthcare plan must constitutionally cover illegal aliens, let us turn to the issue of whether the President was lying or not. President Obama attended the Harvard Law School where he served as editor and president of the Harvard Law Review. These are very prestigious positions within the school, only the best and brightest are nominated to work on the Review and it can be assumed that the one chosen as president would be the best of the best.

Following graduation he moved to Chicago and worked as a lecturer specializing in Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago. The Fourteenth Amendment is the foundation of civil rights law, which the President practiced from 1993 until 2002[2]. It follows that he would have a more than passing knowledge of the Equal Protection Clause.

As stated earlier in order for a statement to be a lie it must be first untrue. To answer the question will illegal aliens be covered by Federal Healthcare Reform? The answer is, if it contains a taxpayer funded option, yes. The Constitution and prior legal precedent will require it. Therefore the President's statement in his speech was untrue. Did the President know that what he was saying was untrue when he said it? One would hope that a man with his education, experience and background would be aware of the Equal Protection Clause and its ramifications. If he is not aware of it that does not say much for Harvard Law where he was educated, The University of Chicago where he taught, or Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland; the law firm where he practiced.

[1]http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0457_0202_ZO.html accessed 9/22/09

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama accessed 9/22/09