Letter: J-1 abuses should not be portrayed as norm

Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007 | 1:46 a.m.

Las Vegas Sun reporter Marshall Allen has done a great job documenting the abuses of the J-1 visa program for immigrant doctors in Southern Nevada. He might even win an award for his excellent reporting. He is to be commended for initiating the Legislature's investigation into the abuses by a handful of doctors.

However, he might have unwittingly created the impression that a lot of immigrant doctors are involved in this abusive practice. A comment by an attorney in the Las Vegas Sun on Nov. 1, dutifully reported by Allen, demeans the immigrant doctors and implies that the series of articles have created a negative impression of immigrant doctors. The quote serves no useful purpose, except to expose the attorney's own ignorance and bigotry.

The other side of the story needs to be told. Only a few doctors stand accused. The vast majority of immigrant doctors contribute to the high-quality medicine practiced in Nevada and throughout the United States. In fact, practice of medicine in the United States would be thoroughly disrupted if the immigrant doctors were not available to provide compassionate, high-quality medical care.

This much-maligned J-1 visa program has helped Southern Nevada recruit several excellent doctors to the area. This has improved the doctor-to-patient ratio and made medical care more available to the public. None of the hospitals in Southern Nevada would be able to function without immigrant doctors.

The Las Vegas Sun has exposed the problem. Now it might be beating a dead horse. Let the Legislature work to fix the problem. Do not allow a good program to die because of a few abuses.

Cyriac K. Chemplavil, Henderson