Deportation is a priority concern for immigrants living in the Massachusetts or other states without documentation. One lesser-publicized worry is the fairness of medical treatment for those immigrants and their family members. In some cases, life-saving operations are denied to organ transplant patients or donors because of immigration status, another indication of the need for the United States' immigration policies to be reformed.

U.S. immigration laws do not prohibit an illegal immigrant from giving or receiving an organ transplant, according to the United Network of Organ Sharing. It is up to hospital administrators whether to allow an undocumented immigrant to participate as a donor or recipient in a transplant operation.

In Massachusetts last year, a 34-year-old immigrant required a heart transplant. The patient was refused the surgery when hospital officials discovered his undocumented immigration status.

A patient in another state requiring a new kidney to improve his chances of staying alive faced the same problem. The man's brother agreed to donate one of his organs, and the $100,000 operation could be funded by the government if the patient was a legal immigrant. But hospital administrators refused to allow the surgery because the patient was allegedly not living in the United States legally, even though doctors agreed to perform the transplant for free.

Hospital administrators believe the government's money should not be spent on illegal immigrants, although other medical authorities say an alternative dialysis treatment will cost far more. The average cost of government-approved dialysis is $75,000 a year.

Critics say hospital policies are paradoxical. Many facilities will perform organ transplants for undocumented immigrants, but have no problem accepting donor organs from the patients they refuse to treat.

An estimated 2.5 percent of donated organs given through donor registries are provided by non-U.S. citizens, but less than 1 percent of immigrants ever benefit from a transplant.

Source: boston.com, "Clipboard: Immigrant denied transplant, despite higher cost," Chelsea Conaboy, Dec. 21, 2011