SALIRSBURY TWP., Pa. — As the clock ticks closer to deportation, a Dominican woman, a mother of two who is referred to only as S.C., waits in a coma at Lehigh Valley Health Network-Cedar Crest Campus.
Outside the hospital, the battle over her fate raged on.
- The fate of a comatose Dominican woman hangs in the balance at Lehigh Valley Health Network
- Because she is undocumented and has no insurance, the network has given the family an ultimatum regarding finding post-acute care
- The family is currently being charged for the cost of her care
On Wednesday, the group Free Migration Project held a protest outside the hospital.
About 30 people gathered in front of the hospital to protest what participants are calling a proposed medical deportation of one of their patients who is in a coma.
S.C. is undocumented in the United States.
The protesters say her husband, the hospital's main point of communication, has been pressured to let them send her back to the Dominican Republic through a medical transport company.
Her husband, Junior Rivas, 52, said complications during surgery resulted in his wife being put into a coma.
Rivera said the hospital administration told him they may have to transfer her from their Cedar Crest campus to the Dominican Republic.
"The hospital doesn't want you uninsured, the hospital doesn't want to pay for your care, so they instead charter a plane for thousands of dollars to deport people and sort of send them back to their country,” said Adrianna Torres-Garcia, deputy director of the group Free Migration Project, a group working to keep the woman in the United States.
Protesters with the Free Migration Project are demanding the hospital to put it in writing that they will not send the woman back to the Dominican Republic.
A couple of the protesters hand-delivered a formal letter requesting this to hospital staff Wednesday. The contents of the letter are private, to respect the family, protesters say.
LVHN has said it can't comment on the case because of privacy issues.
"LVHN works tirelessly with patients and their families to ensure they receive appropriate care,” the network previously said in a prepared statement.
Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach was among the protesters who hand-delivered the notice to hospital administration.
Through a megaphone, Gerlach said she was in disbelief when she heard the allegation.
"But then you hear about situations like this, where there's a woman, a human, a human being, who's in a coma, with a family, who is grieving, and is in pain and worried about their family members, their human family member, part of the human race. And you and you just know, instinctively, the moment you hear it -- this ain't right."Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach
"When I first learned about this, you know, sometimes when you hear about something, you have to you have to think, let me do my research," she said. "Let me see what the other side says.
"But then you hear about situations like this, where there's a woman, a human, a human being, who's in a coma, with a family, who is grieving, and is in pain and worried about their family members, their human
family member, part of the human race. And you and you just know, instinctively, the moment you hear it -- this ain't right."
Community organizer Armando Jimenez said LVHN gave the family a Wednesday deadline to find an alternative such as a long-term care home, but with few financial resources the family has not been paying at all.
The group is saying that the hospital essentially gave the family an ultimatum: find care by today or be medically deported. Protesters stayed about a half hour.
Katia Perez, organizing director at the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition came out to Wednesday's protest, as well.
In an interview after she finished on the megaphone, she said it's a national issue, not just a Pennsylvania one.
"This is a practice," Perez said. "It's in the shadows.
"And it's because it's happening to immigrants is happening to folks who usually don't speak up because they're scared."
