A group of national pro-immigration organizations wrote to President Barack Obama Wednesday, asking him to extend Obamacare eligibility to DREAM-eligible illegal immigrants.
Close to 80 organizations, including the National Council of La Raza and the AFL-CIO, are asking the administration to allow illegal immigrants who are granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status to seek health coverage on Obamacare exchanges.
“We are deeply concerned with the restrictions on access to affordable health coverage and care imposed on DACA recipients,” the groups wrote. “Due to this administratino’s changes to existing federal rules, those who have qualified for DACA are excluded from affordable health insurance options available to others with deferred action.”
The changes mentioned ban DACA recipients from receiving Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program in about half of the states and from signing up for coverage through Obamacare exchanges nationwide. A long list of groups that support amnesty, including labor and immigration organizations, signed onto the letter.
It’s far from the first push by the left for Obamacare coverage to be extended to those present in the country illegally. The California Endowment, a nonprofit created out of an insurance company split is actively pushing for the state Obamacare exchange to extend benefits to illegal immigrants. (RELATED: Insurer-Linked Group Now Pushing Obamacare For Illegals)
But while some political groups are pushing to extend Obamacare benefits, the administration is still struggling to ensure that those already signing up have the proper immigration status. Out of 8 million sign-ups, at least 2.9 million applications had some type of inconsistency regarding citizenship or immigration status.
Months later, the federal government has still been unable to resolve over 300,000 of the problems — leading the administration with no choice but to terminate customers’ coverage if they don’t submit further documentation by within the next several weeks. Some critics, including Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, have asked the administration to ignore its own standards and allow those without verifiable immigration status to keep their coverage. (RELATED: Charlie Crist: Don’t Kick Illegal Immigrants Off Obamacare)