The state of Connecticut is not a private company – it is a government, whose job it is to invest in and to protect its people. 

Access Health CT recently announced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients will be eligible to enroll in health insurance coverage through state-based marketplaces beginning Nov. 1, after the Biden Administration reversed a decision earlier this year to unfairly exclude DACA recipients from the ACA.

While this is wonderful news, this change will only help a very small number of people, leaving most immigrants in our state still without healthcare. The fact is, we can afford to provide HUSKY for all who need it, documented as well as undocumented – and in fact we can’t afford not to.

After the election of Donald Trump in 2016, I knew I wanted to get involved in supporting my immigrant neighbors. Before then I had always voted, but was otherwise busy with my job and family and not involved in politics. After years of working 50 to 60-plus hours each week as an engineer with UTC and bringing up my kids as a single mom, I was ready to relax when I retired in 2017.

But things had now changed, and I started working with Hartford Deportation Defense (HDD) accompanying our neighbors to their immigration hearings to bear witness and offer support. It was often heartbreaking: One young man had all of his possessions in a backpack, fearing he may have to leave after the hearing.

During the Biden administration this work slowed down a bit, and I became more involved in HUSKY for Immigrants. I care a lot about health care –  because without it, I would not be walking. I have rheumatoid arthritis and couldn’t afford the medication without insurance. If untreated it would be causing me much more damage.

I am continually frustrated at the resistance to providing health care to all of our Connecticut residents, regardless of immigration status.

Three of my four grandparents were not born here. My Mom’s parents came from Italy, and my Dad’s dad was from Russia, which later became the Soviet Union. My fourth grandparent was first generation. My mother’s family was separated by World War I during their immigration process, and my grandmother never did learn English.

I see some relatives and others being anti-immigrant and that infuriates me. Our family was welcomed and we made a home here. Today’s immigrants want the same. America is stronger when we welcome immigrants and we have a history of doing so.

People from other countries often come here because it is not safe for them in their own countries. They need and deserve healthcare. When people don’t have it, they don’t treat health issues until they become more serious or it’s too late. It is a terrifying thing, to be undocumented and not have healthcare.

It infuriates me when people say we can’t afford to provide healthcare to undocumented people, or they don’t “deserve” it. the fact is that undocumented immigrants pay more in taxes than they get out of the system.

To me, it’s all about fairness, and why we think we deserve something when other people don’t. People say they don’t want the government in healthcare. Well, I don’t want for-profit companies in my healthcare — insurance or drug companies just trying to make money!

Why do companies need to increase profits every year? Why is our government more accountable to corporations and Wall Street investors than our communities in Connecticut? As long as you are doing well, isn’t that enough?

Connecticut currently has a record surplus. How much of a surplus is enough surplus? Where does that end?

Preventative health care leads to better health for individuals – and for children in school, and adults in the workplace and in the community. Preventative health care saves the government money. I am grateful to be working with the HUSKY 4 Immigrants coalition, and I look forward to a day when everyone in Connecticut has the health care they need and deserve.

Donna Grossman of Windsor is an active member of the HUSKY 4 Immigrants Coalition and Hartford Deportation Defense.