JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In his ongoing fight to protect Missourians’ tax dollars from misuse, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced today that he joined a 15-state coalition in filing suit against the Biden-Harris Administration over its rule treating illegal aliens as legal citizens and making states pay for their public benefits.
“Not only is the Biden-Harris Administration responsible for bringing illegal aliens into Missouri, they are also giving illegal immigrants access to citizen benefits for free, encouraging them to remain here illegally on the taxpayers’ dime,” said Attorney General Bailey. “The American people are already struggling to make ends meet in the current economy; their paychecks should fund their own healthcare, not the healthcare of those here illegally. I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to ensure that Missourians’ hard-earned dollars are not funding illegal immigration.”
Set to go into effect November 1, the rule would cause states to expend limited resources on illegal immigrants. In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bailey notes, there are 77,000 to 104,000 illegal aliens currently residing in Missouri, costing taxpayers between approximately $342 million and $462 million per year.
The lawsuit asserts, “In the ACA, Congress limited eligibility to participate in a qualified health plan through a subsidized health exchange to citizens or nationals of the United States and individuals ‘lawfully present’ in the United States.”
The States point out that the Biden-Harris Administration’s new definition of “lawfully present” is itself unlawful because it violates the plain text of the federal Affordable Care Act. “The Final Rule amends CMS’ definition of ‘lawfully present’ for public healthcare benefits to now include unlawfully present aliens who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Now, through the Final Rule, CMS reverses course and proclaims that DACA recipients are in fact ‘lawfully present’ for purposes of receiving taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits through the ACA.”
In addition to Missouri, the attorneys general of Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia joined in filing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit can be read here.