NEW: Biden-Harris Administration Hit With Major Lawsuit

A partnership of 15 states, led by Kansas, has filed a lawsuit to block the federal government from providing taxpayer-funded healthcare through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to illegal immigrants. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, joined by attorneys general from 14 other states, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, Western Division. The lawsuit targets the U.S. government and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as defendants.

The core of the lawsuit is a recent CMS rule that expands the definition of individuals “lawfully present” in the U.S. to include recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The change would make DACA recipients eligible for ACA benefits, a move the coalition of states argued is both illegal and financially burdensome.

The complaint argued that DACA recipients, who are unlawfully present in the U.S. by definition, should not be eligible for federal public benefits under the ACA. The states assert that this CMS rule violates the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which restricts eligibility for federal benefits to certain qualified aliens. The lawsuit contends that DACA recipients do not fall within this category.

“Aliens granted deferred action under DACA are not included in the definition of such qualified aliens,” the complaint states. It further argued that “DACA recipients are, by definition, unlawfully present in the United States.”

DACA was established by the Obama administration in 2012. The program allows certain individuals who were brought to the United States as children and who do not have lawful immigration status to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit. The program has been a subject of political and legal debates, with various attempts to end or expand it over the years.

A federal judge ruled against DACA for a second time, as part of a comprehensive lawsuit led by Texas seeking to dismantle the program entirely, reports the Center Square. The matter is expected to escalate to the US Supreme Court for a conclusive ruling. Biden took measures in June to strengthen deportation safeguards for DACA beneficiaries and streamline the application process for temporary visas

The lawsuit claims that the rule change by CMS represents an overreach of executive power and is not in accordance with federal law. The plaintiffs accused the Biden-Harris administration of attempting to bypass Congress to provide benefits to those who are in the country illegally. The complaint also highlighted that the rule contradicts the ACA itself, which limits eligibility for ACA benefits to “citizens or nationals of the United States and aliens lawfully present in the United States.”

The states argue that the CMS rule is arbitrary and capricious, claiming that it reverses previous policies without sufficient justification. “CMS’s determination that deferred action recipients are lawfully present is obviously a self-contradiction: it defines as ‘lawfully present’ the class of individuals whom DHS is deferring removal action based on their unlawful presence.”

According to the complaint, the CMS rule would lead to approximately 200,000 DACA recipients becoming newly eligible for ACA coverage, which would increase costs for state-run healthcare exchanges and strain public resources. The plaintiffs argue that this rule would “impose additional administrative and resource burdens on states that have established their own ACA exchange.”

“The financial value of eligibility for ACA coverage providing access to superior medical care in the United States…constitutes a significant financial incentive for the alien to remain in the United States,” the lawsuit argues. If successful, the lawsuit could halt the Biden administration’s efforts to extend healthcare coverage to DACA recipients as well.

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