Fifteen states have sued the Biden administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) over a new rule that extends health coverage benefits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to individuals granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the children of illegal immigrants. Filed in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota on August 8, the lawsuit claims that the rule violates existing federal laws defining eligibility for public benefits.
The states, represented by their attorneys general, argue that the rule published by CMS in May unlawfully broadens the definition of “lawfully present” to include DACA recipients, thereby making them eligible for federally subsidized health insurance coverage, The Epoch Times reports. “Illegal aliens shouldn’t get a free pass into our country,” Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who is leading the coalition of states, said in a statement. “They shouldn’t receive taxpayer benefits when they arrive, and the Biden–Harris administration shouldn’t get a free pass to violate federal law.”
Illegal immigration has become a major issue in the 2024 race, and the Biden-Harris administration runs the risk of further alienating voters with this initiative, analysts say.
The plaintiffs argue that the CMS rule contradicts the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, which limits federal public benefits to specific categories of “qualified aliens.” According to court documents, “aliens who have been granted deferred action under DACA are not included in the definition of such qualified aliens.”
The plaintiffs contend that CMS’s inclusion of DACA recipients in the “lawfully present” category conflicts with statutory definitions for public benefits eligibility. The filing asserts that the ACA specifies that only U.S. citizens, nationals, or aliens who are “lawfully present” are eligible to enroll in a qualified health plan through a subsidized exchange.
The plaintiffs also claim that “DACA recipients are, by definition, unlawfully present in the United States” and, therefore, should not be eligible for these benefits. They claim that CMS’s decision is “contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.” Furthermore, the plaintiffs argue that the rule imposes excessive financial and administrative burdens on the states, especially those with state-run ACA exchanges.
Meanwhile, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is one of a number of Republican AGs vowing to open investigations into potentially fraudulent donations made to the Democratic Party’s candidates via the ActBlue platform. Miyares has already sent a letter to ActBlue demanding that the group answer questions concerning election integrity. The letter is part of Miyares’ probe into the Democratic donation platform, which has listed thousands of donations registered under names and identities that he believes could be fraudulent.
“My office has become aware of multiple serious allegations that ActBlue, ActBlue Civics, Inc., and ActBlue Charities, Inc. have engaged in fraudulent, deceptive, and/or otherwise illegal activities in the Commonwealth of Virginia and/or have aided and abetted others in doing so,” the AG’s letter begins.
“This includes hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions through individual donors in the Commonwealth in volumes that are facially implausible and appear suspicious. Some of these Virginia donors are reported as making multiple daily contributions over the course of multiple years, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars in aggregate,” the letter continued.
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