Biden administration announces health care coverage for DACA recipients

The Biden administration announced on Thursday that it is planning to provide healthcare to nearly 600,000 migrants who arrived in the country as children by the end of the month. 

Under the plan, migrants who were illegally brought to the country as children and are covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, otherwise known as Dreamers, will be able to get health insurance in most states by enrolling in Medicaid or through other coverages under the Affordable Care Act. 

“When President Obama and I created the DACA program, we knew it would transform lives and it has. Bringing stability and possibility to hundreds of thousands of young people known as Dreamers, brought to America's children. This country is the only home they've ever known," Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. 

“They’re American in every way except on paper,” Biden continues. “It’s past time for Congress to give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship,” adding that “we need to give Dreamers the opportunities and support they deserve.”

Today, my Administration is announcing our plan to expand health coverage for Dreamers, the thousands of young people brought to the U.S. as kids.

We’re not done fighting for their pathway to citizenship, but we're getting them the opportunities they deserve in the meantime. pic.twitter.com/4eqNMMNxtt

— President Biden (@POTUS) April 13, 2023

There are around 580,000 individuals enrolled in the DACA program, which was enacted by former President Barack Obama and was renewed last year by Biden, according to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

The announcement comes as the Biden administration tries to maintain the immigration policy and the benefits that the migrants are receiving from it. In February, nine states requested a Texas judge to shut down the DACA program, claiming that Biden overstepped his constitutional authority by renewing the policy without approval from Congress. 

"This lawsuit is about the scope of executive power, not the wisdom of any particular immigration policy. No President can unilaterally override Congress’s duly enacted laws simply because he prefers different policy choices," said the states, including Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas, and Mississippi.