How Undocumented Immigrants Became Physicians: History and Future Prospects

Cesar E. Montelongo Hernandez, Mark G. Kuczewski, and Greg Siskind review key legislative developments, case law, and institutional policy from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that was created in 2012 to show their contribution to enabling the development of undocumented physicians. The authors argue that, despite a lack of comprehensive federal immigration reform legislation since 1986, policies at various levels of government and medical organizations have created the conditions that enabled some undocumented individuals to become physicians. For the future, the authors recommend that some additional educational structures be created to address similar situations that arise in the future.

Cesar E. Montelongo is an undocumented medical student in the MD-PhD program at the Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago. Mark Kuczewski, PhD, is a professor of medical ethics and Director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics at the Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL. Greg Siskind, JD, is an immigration attorney and the founder of Siskind Susser, PC. His primary focus is business, employment, and investment immigration.

Recommended citation: Cesar E. Montelongo Hernandez, Mark G. Kuczewski & Greg Siskind, How Undocumented Immigrants Became Physicians: History and Future Prospects, 52 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. Online 51 (2021).

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