BOISE, Idaho – Idaho AG Raúl Labrador joined a group of Republican Attorneys General this week suing to keep some immigrants lawfully present in the United States from receiving healthcare under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Labrador’s office announced the move Monday. The lawsuit alleges that DREAMers, who are immigrants who were brought to the United States without documentation as young children and have lived their entire lives in the US, cannot legally receive Affordable Care Act coverage.
DREAMers live and work in the US legally and are not considered to be undocumented residents by US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
A new Biden Administration rule extended ACA coverage to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly called DREAMers, in early May.
The Republican lawsuit alleges that DREAMers have been granted legal employment eligibility but are not eligible for federal benefits under a 1996 US employment law. It also claims that Idaho’s taxpayers would be burdened by expanding ACA coverage to DREAMers.
“In Idaho, it is estimated that there are approximately 62,000 to 83,000 illegal aliens residing in the State, including their children, costing taxpayers between approximately $302 million and $405 million per year,” the lawsuit claims.
According to the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, immigrants contribute $2.8 billion to Idaho’s economy annually, with an estimated half of low wage immigrant workers being undocumented.
On a national level, the Center for American Progress estimates that DREAMers pay $9.4 billion in taxes each year. In his announcement that Idaho has joined the lawsuit, Labrador incorrectly asserted that DACA recipients are in the United States illegally.
“The latest taxpayer-financed incentive is free healthcare. Illegal immigrants shouldn’t get a free pass into our country when so many others wait patiently and follow every legal process for the privilege of being here,” Labrador said.
The lawsuit is currently sitting in US District Court. Because it is a multi-state lawsuit handling a contentious political issue, it could be appealed higher in the federal court system over time.
It highlights a broader division within Republican politics as to whether broad opposition to immigrants touted by former President Donald Trump should be the assumed position of the party.
With the new DREAMers lawsuit, Labrador seems to have placed himself firmly in the Trump camp, with the years of more open immigration Republican policy proposals being left behind. Meanwhile, recipients of DACA are waiting to see whether they will be able to apply for Affordable Care Act coverage like other people lawfully living in the US.
While a large cohort of Republican Attorneys General has signed onto the suit, former President George W. Bush has advocated for DREAMers being granted a pathway to citizenship.
“Without the contributions of Dreamers…the United States would lose $460.3 billion in GDP over the next decade and remove 685,000 workers from the economy…[They] are American in every way except their paperwork. Their citizenship status should reflect who they are.” the Bush presidential library said.
