by Debra Heine
A coalition of 15 states have filed suit against the Biden-Harris regime over its new rule that will require states to pay public benefits to illegal immigrants, including healthcare benefits.
The rule, which is set to go into effect on November 1, would force states “to expend limited resources on illegal immigrants,” said Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in a press release Thursday.
“Not only is the Biden-Harris Administration responsible for bringing illegal aliens into Missouri, they are also giving illegal immigrants access to citizen benefits for free, encouraging them to remain here illegally on the taxpayers’ dime,” said Bailey. “The American people are already struggling to make ends meet in the current economy; their paychecks should fund their own healthcare, not the healthcare of those here illegally. I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to ensure that Missourians’ hard-earned dollars are not funding illegal immigration.”
In addition to Missouri, the attorneys general of Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia have joined the lawsuit.
According to Bailey, “there are 77,000 to 104,000 illegal aliens currently residing in Missouri, costing taxpayers between approximately $342 million and $462 million per year.”
According to a report from the House Homeland Security Committee last November, the U.S. government was already spending $451 billion a year to house and care for “asylum seekers” nationwide.
The State AGs argued that the Biden-Harris regime’s definition of “lawfully present” is itself unlawful “because it violates the plain text of the federal Affordable Care Act.”
The lawsuit asserts, “In the ACA, Congress limited eligibility to participate in a qualified health plan through a subsidized health exchange to citizens or nationals of the United States and individuals ‘lawfully present’ in the United States.”
“The Final Rule amends CMS’ definition of ‘lawfully present’ for public healthcare benefits to now include unlawfully present aliens who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Now, through the Final Rule, CMS reverses course and proclaims that DACA recipients are in fact ‘lawfully present’ for purposes of receiving taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits through the ACA,” the AGs stated.
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Debra Heine reports for American Greatness.
