“A” WORK DISCUSSION IN 15 HOURS

Case Study: Miguel, a migrant working in California as a seasonal employee, has severely injured himself on the job and refuses to seek medical treatment. Considering the current policy environment, what factors do you think influenced his decision not to seek medical care? What was your reasoning? How did you arrive at these decisions?
REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTION AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 125 WORDS or MORE)
                                                      CLASSMATE’S POST
First, I think it is important to know what type of injury Miguel has endured, because what labeling an injury as serious can vary for each individual person. If Miguel endured a deep laceration, sure, it could need medical attention, but Miguel might also be able to handle the wound care at home. Though, if Miguel has an open fracture of his arm, that is serious and should seek medical attention for an injury of that nature. I honestly think that if the injury is something, he feels like he can manage at home, there is no sense in wasting his time and money on an emergency room visit or a clinic visit. 
Second, I also think it is important to look at Miguel’s culture. A lot of times a person’s culture is what makes them so “hard-headed” in a sense. For example, if Miguel is of a Hispanic culture – they prefer to not go to the hospital unless it is a life or death situation. Hispanics also prefer natural remedies over medicines in order to care for their bodies. So, I do believe that that also is a serious factor in determining why Miguel did not seek medical attention based on the actual severity of his wound. As well as there is the possibility of a language barrier if Miguel’s English is not up to par. 
Third, if a person is in the US as an immigrant worker and is probably undocumented, they are here for a reason. The reason 9 times out of 10 is going to be money. The money made here, most of it goes back to wherever their family resides. Being undocumented means, they do not have insurance and health care in the US is outrageously expensive. They cannot afford a bill from a hospital. Not only that, they may not even have a permanent address in order to give the hospital for their bill or may refuse to give up any information in fear. 
Fourth, the policies under the Trump Administration for immigrants and undocumented workers is scary to think about. If Miguel makes one wrong move and the wrong person finds out he is here illegally, he gets deported back to his country of origin. There is a large fear of deportation which has ultimately caused a decrease in illegal immigrates utilizing the health care system (Kelley, 2018). 
I think that ultimately it is going to be up to Miguel to decide if his wound is that serious to where he has the potential to risk deportation for going to a hospital or clinic to seek treatment. Though, I believe that there are a lot of other factors that would come first to deciding whether he is sick or hurt enough to seek medical attention before deportation is crossing his mind.