Booker, Hirono, Castro, Jayapal Lead 117 Democrats in Opposing HHS Proposed Rule to Take ACA Eligibility Away from DACA Recipients
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), along with U.S. Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), led 117 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. expressing strong opposition to the department’s proposal to reverse Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace eligibility for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, a move that would significantly restrict access to affordable health coverage.
“The ACA makes all lawfully present immigrants eligible for marketplace coverage. When the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) first established the regulatory definition of lawfully present immigrants in 2010, it included all deferred action recipients, consistent with longstanding federal policies for Social Security benefits and driver’s licenses under the REAL ID Act. However, in 2012, the agency, without any statutory justification, added an exclusion for DACA recipients. We believe CMS made the wrong decision, arbitrarily excluding hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth from health coverage despite Congress’s intent in passing the ACA to widely expand access to health care,” the lawmakers wrote.
In 2024, HHS finalized a rule correcting this error which resulted in ACA Marketplace and subsidy eligibility being granted to DACA recipients, “Prior to this rule, DACA recipients were nearly five times more likely to be uninsured compared to their U.S. born peers. The proposed regulation would reverse course and tear health coverage away from DACA recipients who have only had eligibility for less than a year.”
The lawmakers highlighted that President Trump has repeatedly recognized the value of DREAMers. In December 2024, President Trump made clear that Congress must “do something about the Dreamers, because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now, they don’t even speak the language of their country.”
“We agree with President Trump that Congress must pass the DREAM Act to create a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. In the meantime, CMS must not enact this proposed rule. Removing ACA eligibility undermines the law’s purpose, contravenes President Trump’s priorities, and jeopardizes the health and stability of hundreds of thousands of immigrant families,” the lawmakers concluded.
The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Andy Kim (D-NJ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tim Kaine (D-VA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Ed Markey (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Brian Schatz, Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Maxine Dexter (D-OR), Adrian Espaillat (D-NY), Grace Meng (D-NY), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Shri Thaneder (D-MI), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Scott Peters (D-CA), Deborah Ross (D-NC), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Becca Balint (D-VT), Judy Chu (D-CA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Delia C. Ramirez (D-IL), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Robert Garcia (D-CA), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Sean Casten (D-IL), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Yvette Clark (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Gerald Connoly (D-VA), Suzanna Bonamici (D-OR), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Andrea Salinas (D-OR), Gabe Amo (D-RI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Julie Johnson (D-TX), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Kelly Morrison (D-MN), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), Lori Trahan (D-MA), Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Andre Carson (D-IN), Mark Takan (D-CA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Lou Correa (D-CA), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Angie Craig (D-MN), Sarah McBride (D-DE), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), John Larson (D-CT), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Darren Soto (D-FL), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Sam Liccardo (D-CA), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM), Adam Smith (D-WA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Lauren Underwood (D-IL), Greg Casar (D-TX), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Diana Degette (D-CO), Luz Rivas (D-CA), Greg Landsman (D-OH), and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).
To read the full text of the letter, click here.
Issues: Health Care, Immigration