Irene Baek from South Korea, and Pengyu Xi from China, both went to school and worked in the province up until recent years when they went to South Korea to care for Baek's sick mother. There, their son Jaden was born.
Baek said that caught her and Xi off-guard, knowing immigrants on work permits can secure public health care for their children. Tim McIsaac, who housed Baek while she was going through school and thinks of her as a daughter, says the situation puts Baek’s family in a worrisome position. “I guess all we can do is just wait and see if we can go through private insurance, and hope he doesn’t get really sick during that time. And hopefully, maybe, somebody can hear this and change for people in the future who are facing the same situation as us,” she said.