A group of Republicans are looking to ban President Joe Biden’s administration from siphoning healthcare resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) away from military veterans to illegal aliens arriving at the United States-Mexico border.
On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) introduced the “No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act” to block the VA from using its resources to provide healthcare services to illegal aliens at the southern border.
The legislation, first reported by Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph and Adam Shaw, comes as Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been accused of siphoning VA healthcare resources from military veterans to illegal aliens.
“Joe Biden’s failed border policies have created a humanitarian and national security crisis. Now it appears he’s taking resources away from our veterans to facilitate healthcare for illegal migrants,” Bost, who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said:
As a Marine, I believe any dollar taken away from a veteran is a promise broken to those who served. I’ve demanded answers from the Biden administration and been stonewalled every step of the way. Until I get the response our veterans deserve, I’ll use every available tool of my chairmanship to end this practice and put our veterans first. [Emphasis added]
Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI), Scott Franklin (R-FL), and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) are co-sponsoring the bill in the House, while Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) are cosponsoring the bill in the Senate.
Last year, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seemingly confirmed to Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) that the agency was looking at using VA healthcare resources at the border.
Reports from the House Homeland Security Committee, chaired by Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), have shown that Medicaid costs for emergency services for illegal aliens cost American taxpayers more than $7 billion in Fiscal Year 2021 and more than $5.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2022.
Annually, Americans are forced to subsidize medical care for illegal aliens to the tune of $18.5 billion. In 2021, Americans footed the bill for more than $316 million in medical care for illegal aliens who were detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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