Biden Administration Changes Rule, Will Provide Healthcare To 100,000 Illegal Aliens

Upwards of 100,000 illegal immigrants will now be eligible for taxpayer-funded health care, the Biden Administration announced Friday.

President Biden has amended a “final rule” that will expand Affordable Care Act coverage to individuals who have been allowed to remain in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program was started by President Barrack Obama in 2012, who sidestepped congress in order to enact it.

The program currently provides legal protection and work permits for 500,000 illegal  aliens, though they have not been eligible for health care in the past.

Now, DACA recipients will be eligible to begin applying for coverage under Obamacare  as early as November, the White House announced in a statement. “President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris believe that health care should be a right, not a privilege,” the statement said.

“Together, they promised to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, lowering costs and expanding coverage so that every American has the peace of mind that health insurance brings,” it continued. “Today’s final rule delivers on the President’s commitment by giving DACA recipients that same peace and opportunity.”

Vice President Harris has estimated the number of “dreamers” present in the United States exceeds 800,000, while President Biden has called on Congress to authorize a pathway to citizenship for them.

Minors covered under DACA can continue to receive benefits, though a federal judge ruled in 2021 that additional arrivals can not be covered under the program. This decision was later upheld by an appeals court.

The Biden Administration has also been focused on resettling Palestinian refugees in recent weeks. According to documents obtained by CBS News, officials across multiple federal agencies have discussed plans that would not only admit thousands of immigrants, but provide them with a host of resettlement benefits, including housing and a pathway to citizenship.