HBO Chronicles Undocumented Immigrants’ Struggle to Find Affordable Health Care Kiko Martinez - Remezcla
go to original October 19, 2017

Clínica de Migrantes - Trailer (HBO Documentary Films)

It was 15 years ago when Philadelphia-based obstetrician Dr. Jack Ludmir noticed an increasing number of pregnant women showing up for their appointments without having any prenatal care. Most of these women were undocumented immigrants from Mexico who did not qualify for medical assistance because of a new welfare reform act signed into law in 1996.

As far as Ludmir was concerned, the immigration status of these women was not an issue. They were now in the U.S. and needed prenatal care. He wondered if there was anything he could do for this new migrant population in South Philadelphia.

“I felt access to prenatal care was a universal right for all women and I had a moral and ethical obligation to provide it,” said Ludmir, who grew up in Peru. “All women deserve the same treatment regardless of politics.”

Once Ludmir identified the need for access to prenatal care for undocumented women, he turned to his colleague Dr. Steve Larson, who was already working with the migrant population in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. There, Larson was volunteering his time once a week and providing medical care to the migrants working in the borough’s mushroom fields.

“I grew up in a very Latino friendly environment,” said Larson, whose mother is Puerto Rican and whose father was raised in Venezuela. “There was a need and I always wanted to give back to the community.”

Together, Ludmir and Larson co-founded Puentes de Salud, a volunteer-run health clinic in South Philadelphia that treats undocumented and uninsured immigrants. In the new HBO short documentary Clínica de Migrantes, filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin (Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer) takes an intimate look inside the clinic and underscores the incredible work Ludmir, Larson and the clinic’s staff offer to their underserved patients.

Clínica de Migrantes is currently available on HBO On Demand, HBO Now, and HBO Go.

Read the rest at Remezcla

Related: Medical Students in Limbo as Young Immigrant Program Ends (Associated Press)

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