Tag: illegal immigration

White House Releases New Memo Exposing Democrats’ Demand for Nearly $200 BILLION in Taxpayer-Funded Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants — All While Gutting Reforms That Protect American Citizens

A newly released White House memorandum just blew the lid off Democrats’ latest betrayal of the American people.

Buried inside their continuing resolution (CR) is a demand to repeal President Trump’s historic America First healthcare reforms, the very safeguards that protect U.S. citizens from footing the bill for illegal aliens’ medical care.

According to the memo, if Democrats succeed, taxpayers will be on the hook for nearly $200 BILLION in healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants and non-citizens over the next decade, almost enough to fund the entire Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for the same period.

The Working Families Tax Cut Act (WFTCA), signed into law by President Trump, was designed to end taxpayer subsidies for illegal immigrant healthcare and redirect resources to the most vulnerable Americans. It:

  • Ended Medicaid & Medicare funding for most non-citizens.
  • Shut down the California loophole that allowed liberal states to siphon federal dollars for illegal alien healthcare.
  • Blocked emergency Medicaid expansions that reimbursed hospitals more for treating illegals than for caring for American children and seniors.
  • Repealed the Obamacare “special rule” that gave subsidies to immigrants earning below the poverty line while denying them to poor American citizens

According to the memo, the Democrat proposal would:

  • Spend $193 billion over 10 years on healthcare for illegal immigrants.
  • Repeal safeguards against fraud, improper payments, and abuse of federal programs.
  • Cancel Trump’s $50 billion rural healthcare investment.
  • Eliminate expanded Health Savings Accounts for 10 million Americans.
  • Gut work requirements for able-bodied adults, reviving failed welfare policies

The memo breaks down just how much repealing Trump’s reforms would cost taxpayers:

  • $91.4B – Restoring Obamacare funding for non-citizens
  • $34.6B – Reopening California’s Medicaid scam
  • $28.2B – Emergency care reimbursements for illegals
  • $27.3B – Obamacare “special rule” subsidies for non-citizens
  • $6.2B – Medicaid for non-citizens
  • $5.1B – Medicare for non-citizens
  • TOTAL: $192.8 BILLION

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Illegal Immigrants and Federal Health Benefits: What to Know

Republicans and Democrats offer competing claims about whether people who entered the country unlawfully are benefiting from Medicaid.

“The law prohibits undocumented immigrants from getting payments from Medicare, Medicaid, or the ACA. There’s no money, not a penny of federal dollars that are going there,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Sept. 30.

Yet Republicans say millions of people who entered the country illegally do receive federal health benefits.

“By some estimates, 20 million illegal aliens came [here] from every country, all around the world,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters on Oct. 2, referring to the years of the Biden administration.

“[Democrats] gave them all this parole status so that they could get enrolled onto taxpayer benefits.”

The war of words has erupted during a government shutdown because of Democrats’ demand that all health-related portions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) be repealed as part of a continuing funding resolution.

The dispute is over competing visions for the scope of government-funded health. Democrats favor a more expansive list of noncitizens who can apply for federal benefits. Republicans, through the OBBB, have shortened the list considerably.

Here’s a look at which immigrants can now apply for Medicaid, and how that’s set to change in 2026.

Qualified Aliens

Under current federal law, “qualified aliens” can apply for federal benefits. This category includes people lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

Generally, there is a five-year waiting period before eligibility begins, though most states waive that for immigrant children and pregnant women.

Parolees are also qualified aliens. Federal law gives the director of Homeland Security the discretion to release them into the United States temporarily, “only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.”

More than 2.8 million people were paroled into the country between February 2021 and January 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Parolees are eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, or the ACA Marketplace after one year.

Immigrants who are granted asylum or refugee status are also qualified aliens. They have no waiting period.

Qualified aliens also include people who are under an order of deportation that has been withheld, come from certain designated countries, are victims of domestic violence, are victims of sex trafficking, are members of certain Indian tribes, or certain others.

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ACLU Sues ICE to Release Records of Detainment Facilities

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), seeking to compel the agency to disclose records related to specific operations, according to the complaint filed on Oct. 1.

The lawsuit, filed jointly by the ACLU and its Virginia and North Carolina affiliates in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, concerns the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

According to the lawsuit, ICE issued a request for information (RFI) on May 28, seeking information on available detention facilities capable of housing single adult populations to support the agency’s Washington field office.

An RFI is issued to gather information regarding services or products from suppliers. In this case, ICE wanted information on detection facilities. While ICE owns five detention facilities, it relies on private prison companies and other facilities to detain a majority of people in its custody, the lawsuit states.

On Aug. 8, plaintiffs submitted a FOIA request to ICE, asking for records of responses to the agency’s RFI.

“[The FOIA] was enacted to facilitate public access to government documents,” the lawsuit reads.

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DHS Proposes to Partially Reopen New DACA Applications Amid Pending Lawsuit

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has told a federal court it could, for the first time in four years, resume processing new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In a Sept. 30 filing with U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Texas, the department outlined a plan to partially reopen the Obama-era program, which shields certain people brought to the United States illegally as children from deportation and allows them to work.

Since 2021, DACA has been closed to first-time applicants, though existing beneficiaries have been allowed to renew their two-year work permits.

Under the plan, DHS would begin accepting new DACA applications in all 49 states except Texas. Applicants approved outside Texas would qualify for both deportation protections and work permits. By contrast, applicants in Texas could receive only protection from removal, without work authorization, and would not be considered “lawfully present” in the United States.

The proposal also warns that current DACA recipients could have their work permits revoked if they move to Texas.

“These proposals do not limit DHS from undertaking any future lawful changes to DACA,” the department said in its filing.

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Elizabeth Warren Loses Her Mind When Journalist Notes That Democrats Actually Do Want Healthcare for Illegals on the Taxpayers’ Dime 

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts lost her cool on CBS News this week, when reporter Tony Dokoupil noted that Democrats actually do kinda want to provide healthcare to illegals, funded by taxpayers.

She got really angry but then pretty much confirmed what Tony Dokoupil was saying, while giving a long, confusing explanation.

You know what’s very telling in this ongoing debate? The anger and frustration of Democrats. It’s a tell that indicates that they are losing this argument and they know it. You see the same thing with Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts lost her cool on CBS News this week, when reporter Tony Dokoupil noted that Democrats actually do kinda want to provide healthcare to illegals, funded by taxpayers.

She got really angry but then pretty much confirmed what Tony Dokoupil was saying, while giving a long, confusing explanation.

You know what’s very telling in this ongoing debate? The anger and frustration of Democrats. It’s a tell that indicates that they are losing this argument and they know it. You see the same thing with Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.

Transcript via Curtis Houck on Twitter/X:

Dokoupil: “So, senator, you know, Republicans say what you’re really fighting for is taxpayer dollars for, as they put it, illegal aliens. I know that’s not strictly true but there is a provision –”

Warren: “Oh, excuse me not strictly true.”

Dokoupil: “It’s not directly true, but –”

Warren: “It is a flat-out lie. It is a flat-out lie.”

Dokoupil: “– the way that they frame it –”

Warren: “There is nothing in Medicaid, nothing in Medicare, that permits one undocumented immigrant to get one dollar of assistance. None.”

Dokoupil: “– Senator –”

Warren: “Zero.”

Dokoupil: “– if you let me finish the question –”

Warren: “Of course. I’m sorry.”

Dokoupil: “– sorry, in the Democratic counter offer the proposal for funding, there is a restoration of Medicaid benefits for certain noncitizens that had been taken away in the Big, Beautiful Bill as Republicans put it.”

Warren: “No!”

Dokoupil: “Republicans don’t think those people should be getting health care on the taxpayer dime. I’m not asking on the merits. Politically, putting that in there, exposes you to this talking point, this lie as you put it. Why put it in there? Why is it worth it?”

Warren: “No. What’s happened is that what we’re saying is that whenever hospitals give care, what is going to be the level of reimbursement? And the Republicans said it’s going to be a low level. The Democrats said we just want go back to the level it was before because you’re going to bankrupt hospitals. You’re going to put rural hospitals out of business. The Republicans and the Democrats’ plan, nothing changes the number of undocumented immigrants who still get care if they show up bleeding and unconscious at an emergency room. There is absolutely zero difference. The difference is whether or not hospitals who, under laws that date back to Ronald Reagan, may provide emergency care to anyone who’s unconscious, will actually get reimbursed at a very low level that will put the hospital ultimately out of business potentially or at a higher level. The Republicans – there is no change, no change in the number of undocumented migrants who get any help under what the Democrats want. Look, what we’re looking for is help for people who are going to get pushed out of nursing homes, help for people who are at home and relying on home health aides.”

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Yes America, Democrats really do want tax dollars for illegal immigrants

At midnight Tuesday, the government shut down. Prior to the deadline, Republicans passed their budget proposal out of the House of Representatives, but Senate Democrats, along with Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, shot it down, 55-45. 

While Republicans have branded this the “Schumer Shutdown,” blame-slinging began months ago when negotiations commenced to avert the budget showdown. 

The clarity of Democrats’ desire to give illegal immigrants free healthcare is abundant, as evidenced by every single Democratic nominee eagerly raising their hand in support of the policy at the June 2019 NBC presidential debate. In practice, it has become more of a shell game.

How the shell game works: Channeling federal dollars through states

Some states, often Democratic-led, are stretching the boundaries of federal Medicaid rules to extend coverage to certain immigrants who aren’t fully “qualified” under the law, effectively routing federal dollars toward groups legally considered ineligible.

The New York Times issued their own “fact check,” which vaguely admitted that “Separately, the federal government does reimburse hospitals for providing emergency care to low-income unauthorized immigrants who are otherwise ineligible for Medicaid.”

The funds in question are designated for Medicaid, which is supposed to only be for legally present immigrants, like refugees and green card holders. Republicans point out that emergency services, accessible to all including illegal immigrants, inflate these costs, and argue that the asylum-seekers who entered during Biden’s term are not in the United States lawfully. 

Additionally, Republicans are concerned that the bill allocates $8 billion for migrant hotels. The nuance is that the funds ostensibly support broader federal law enforcement, including ICE facilities that detain both immigrants and U.S. citizens. However, with a specifically allocated amount of money, this inevitably diverts resources toward immigration-related expenses and away from lawful, legal residents and citizens.

For clarification, Sen. Joey Arrington, R-Texas, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Budget committee, sent a list of queries to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The agency’s response was registered on their government website and clarified that from 2017 to 2023, federal and state governments spent a total of $27 billion on emergency Medicaid services for people who were ineligible for full Medicaid coverage because of their immigration status. The federal portion of that bill is a little over $18 billion. 

The letter further clarifies that under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), “eligibility for many federal benefit programs—including Medicaid—has generally been limited to “qualified aliens,” as defined by that law. That group includes lawful permanent residents (also known as green-card holders), asylees, refugees, and people who are paroled into the United States for one year or more. Those people generally are eligible to participate in comprehensive Medicaid after a five-year waiting period, which may be waived for people in some groups, such as asylees and refugees.”

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Who Will Protect Us From the Protectors?

In the same week in which President Donald Trump announced that he was federalizing 200 Oregon National Guard soldiers and dispatching them to the streets of Portland, he quietly signed a Presidential National Security Memorandum that purports to federalize policing. The Memorandum, just like the federalization of troops in Oregon, completely disregards constitutional safeguards against such practices.

Here is the backstory.

When James Madison and his colleagues crafted the Constitution and shortly thereafter the Bill of Rights, they intentionally created a limited federal government. They confined the federal government to the 16 discrete powers granted to Congress. Those powers identify areas of governance uniquely federal. Conspicuously and intentionally absent is public safety. To clarify this, the 10th Amendment articulates the reservation by the states of powers not granted to the feds. This relationship is called federalism.

Constitutional scholars often refer to the powers retained by the states as the police power. The use of the word “police” here doesn’t mean police officers on the streets. It means the inherent and never-delegated-away powers of the states to govern for the health, safety, welfare and morality of all persons in those states.

In his famous Bank Speech, in which Madison argued brilliantly but unsuccessfully for a textualist understanding of the Constitution — he was opposing the creation of the First National Bank of the United States essentially because it was not authorized by the Constitution — he laid out the principles of limited government. He reminded those in Congress who had just sent the proposed Bill of Rights to the states for ratification that they did not constitute a general legislature that can right any wrong or regulate any behavior or intrude upon any relationship. Rather, their powers were limited to federal matters.

Merely because an area of governance is reflected nationally does not make the area federal. Chief among these is the police power.

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Democrat Senator’s Attempt to Gaslight Americans on Illegal Aliens and the Govt. Shutdown Blows Up in Her Face When Fox News’s Lawrence Jones Reveals a Damning Video Clip

The Democratic Party’s ill-advised shutdown of the federal government continues to backfire spectacularly, with the latest humiliation occurring on Fox News.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, the Schumer Shutdown took effect at 12:01 am on Wednesday after two measures to avert the government shutdown failed in the Senate.

The measures needed 60 votes to pass. The GOP-backed measure failed to pass in a 55-45 vote – Rand Paul voted with the Democrats.

The Democrat Party and Paul decided to put the health care of illegal aliens and more garbage ahead of keeping the government running.

On Thursday, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) appeared on Fox and Friends to attempt to gaslight the audience into believing that Democrats really do not want to give health care to illegals.

“I haven’t heard anybody in my party saying illegal immigrants should get access to the health insurance market!” Shaheen claimed.

But Fox and Friends co-host Lawrence Jones had an ace up his sleeve: he had footage of several prominent Democrats saying the exact opposite.

“I’m so glad you said that,” Jones replied. “Actually, I have some tape of your Democratic Party members saying this on the debate stage.”

“Let’s play the clip.”

Footage then emerges from a June 2019 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate where EVERY candidate raised their hand when moderator Savannah Guthrie asked if their health care plans would cover illegal aliens.

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Massive Drone No-Fly Zone Imposed Over Greater Chicago Area

With a large-scale ICE operation now underway in the Chicago area, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has enacted a uniquely massive 15-mile radius prohibition against drone flights. The FAA told us the temporary flight restriction (TFR) for drones in this area was requested by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The no-fly zone lasts through Oct. 12.

Under this restriction, only drones operated in support of national defense, homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue and other emergency response efforts, or commercially used drones with a valid statement of work are allowed to fly. In addition, media organizations can apply for an approved special governmental interest airspace waiver. Any drones violating this restriction can be seized or destroyed, the TFR explains. It also extends about 15 miles into Lake Michigan, without any explanation.

There have been no reports that drones have created major problems for federal agents. However, having uncrewed aerial vehicles flying during an ongoing operation like the one taking place in the Chicago area clearly raises concerns about operational security as well as the safety of helicopters and other aviation assets flying in support of it. Meanwhile, despite the possibility of waivers for commercial and journalistic purposes, the restriction is also drawing the ire of commercial drone operators and sparking worries about civil liberties violations.

The move comes as the Trump administration has followed through on its vow to bring federal forces into the nation’s third-largest city. Hundreds of federal agents have poured into the region. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump suggested responding to protests in Chicago and elsewhere would be a good way to prepare troops for combat.

“…we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military – National Guard – but military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon,” Trump told a room full of admirals and generals gathered at Marine Base Quantico.

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Dems Want Medicaid For Millions Of Biden-Era Migrants But Use Sneaky Wordplay To Pretend They Don’t

The federal government shut down on Wednesday after Democrats refused to vote on a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded for the next seven weeks. When Republicans pointed out that Democrats were unwilling to vote to fund the government without restoring health care eligibility for illegal aliens, the media and other Democrats jumped into action, “fact-checking” Republicans and claiming that wasn’t true.

These “fact checks” rely on the ludicrous claim that foreign citizens who were dumped into the United States by the millions by the Biden administration via blanket parole grants are not really “illegal” aliens.

Democrats refused to fund the government without a funding proposal that would, in part, rescind Subtitle B in Title VII of the One Big Beautiful Bill. That section had narrowed the eligibility requirements for government health care benefits (like Medicaid), restricting eligibility for certain foreign nationals, such as the 2.8 million otherwise inadmissible aliens who received blanket parole into the United States from the Biden administration.

But rather than acknowledge that Democrats’ proposal would extend federal health care to parolees, leftist mouthpieces insist that those millions of parolees don’t count as “illegal aliens” and therefore that no illegal aliens are getting Medicaid benefits.

That’s what Neera Tanden is doing when she insists the Affordable Care Act “bans care for illegal aliens.”

Or Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, who claimed: “Undocumented immigrants aren’t even *allowed* to access Medicare, Medicaid or ACA credits.”

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in an X post: “‘Health care for illegal aliens’ is the new ‘immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield.’ The Republican playbook is simple: make up a baseless lie, repeat it every chance you get, hope and pray that everyone blames Democrats for the crises you created.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said: “To be clear, undocumented immigrants aren’t even allowed to enroll in federally funded health coverage.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNBC it is an “outright lie” and that “federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to provide medical coverage to undocumented individuals.”

New York Rep. Jerry Nadler said on X that “undocumented immigrants are not eligible for the ACA. Period.”

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