Top congressional Republicans introduced a measure to exclude illegal immigrants from Veteran Affairs healthcare benefits.
Attention was called to the issue in part due to a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing last month, where Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) questioned a Biden administration official over the possibility of the VA providing services to illegal immigrants. On Wednesday, Tuberville and Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, introduced a bill to ban illegal immigrants from receiving such benefits, as reported by Fox News.
The legislation is called the No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act.
“Joe Biden is putting illegal immigrants over America’s veterans,” Tuberville said in a statement. “It is outrageous. Our veterans should not be forced to wait in long lines at VA medical centers and clinics to get the care they EARNED while illegal immigrants waltz across our open border and get taxpayer-funded healthcare they NEVER earned.”
Bost backed up Tuberville’s sentiment, drawing on his experience as a former marine.
“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,” he said. “As a Marine, I believe any dollar taken away from a veteran is a promise broken to those who served.”
Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Reps. Keith Self (R-TX), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Scott Franklin (R-FL), and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) co-sponsored the legislation.
