| Abstract: | Abstract Based on more than twenty in-depth interviews with health care professionals in Miami-Dade County clinics and hospitals, this study explores immigrant access to health care. We focus on some of the debates that took place during the 2009–10 process of US health care reform, which uncovered a pervasive public fear that immigrants illegitimately access health care. This study found the opposite: immigrants in South Florida often avoid primary health care even when offered freely and legally. This is because of bewilderment about bureaucratic requirements, fear of deportation and bills, and cultural folkways. We present the former two barriers as forms of structural and symbolic violence. We conclude by describing South Florida's compassionate compatriots, as a means by which immigrants can be guided through the health care system. |
