Republicans falsely claiming Democrats want to give free health care to those without legal status
As the nation careens towards a likely government shutdown, President Donald Trump and top Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have falsely accused Democrats of demanding that free health care be given to “illegal aliens.”
Leaving the White House Tuesday morning, Trump claimed Democrats “want to be able to take care of people that are coming into our country illegally,” adding they “want to give them full health care benefits.”
After a meeting between Trump, Republican leaders and Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries meant to hash out differences to avert a shutdown, Vance made the same claim.
The vice president said the Democrats’ proposal was sending the message that they “want to give massive amounts of money, hundreds of millions of dollars, to illegal aliens for their health care while Americans are struggling to pay their health care bills.”
But those claims are false.
Immigrants in the country without legal status are not eligible to get federally funded health insurance. But certain migrant groups in the “lawfully present” category are considered authorized immigrants, including lawful permanent residents, or green card holders. Asylum recipients and refugees could have been eligible for Medicaid and Obamacare subsidies, but they lost eligibility under Trump's spending and policy bill that he signed in July.
Democrats’ negotiation demands include reversing the Medicaid cuts and extending ACA subsidies that are set to expire in December, and to reinstate people who lost their eligibility but lawfully reside in the U.S.
Democrats’ proposal would give access to federally funded health care back to “lawfully present” authorized migrants, but it does not give free coverage to those without legal status -- or "illegal aliens," as Vance and other Republicans claim.
Asked Tuesday if there was any truth to Republicans’ claims, Jeffries rejected them.
“Of course not,” Jeffries said in a CNBC interview. “And thank you for asking that question, because this is also an outright lie.”
