Forbes – The Biden Administration said the Department of Health and Human Services will unveil a new rule on Thursday that will expand the definition of who is “lawfully present” in the U.S. to include DACA recipients, allowing them to obtain health care under Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act.
The new rule would potentially allow the 580,000 immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors and are enrolled in DACA to obtain health care coverage.
“It’s past time for Congress to give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship, and while we work toward that goal . . . we need to give Dreamers the opportunities and support they deserve,” Biden said Thursday. “Health care should be a right not a privilege.”
The Obama-era DACA program, established in 2012, allows people who entered the United States without authorization as children to stay in the country legally under a special temporary status that is up for renewal every two years.
Biden has sought to expand access to federal programs for immigrants throughout his time in office, a reversal from former President Donald Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to dismantle DACA.
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries have become eligible for temporary protected status during Biden’s tenure, and some Trump-era border policies have been rolled back … READ MORE.
