A federal court in North Dakota has blocked Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) participants—immigrants who came to the U.S. as children without legal status.
Today (Dec. 16) U.S. District Judge Daniel M. Traynor sided with Kansas and 18 other states, granting a stay against a Biden administration rule which sought to expand ACA—also known as ObamaCare—marketplace access to some Dreamers, according to court documents. The judge also issued a preliminary injunction, barring the federal government from implementing the rule in those states.
Republican attorney generals from Kansas and North Dakota are leading the charge in a lawsuit they filed back in August, and of course, they didn’t come alone. Joining the lawsuit are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia—because evidently, unity flourishes when it’s about blocking healthcare for the most vulnerable members of American society.
North Carolina did not join the lawsuit as the state’s Attorney General, Josh Stein, has fiercely advocated for maintaining and strengthening protections for the program and its recipients. DACA, established by President Barack Obama in 2012, grants temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants raised in the U.S. pursuing a pathway to permanent residency.
Under DACA, Eligible applicants must have arrived in the U.S. before age 16 and lived here since June 15, 2007. Recipients must also renew their protections every two years. Supporters of the program have pushed for permanent protection or a pathway to citizenship.
According to the National Immigration Forum, an estimated 3.6 million Dreamers live in the country. Still, most of them have not sought any legal protections, choosing to remain under the radar. More than 100,000 “Dreamers” became eligible to sign up for the ACA at the beginning of November.
President-elect Donald Trump has criticized the program in the past and fought to end the program. In a recent interview, despite promising mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, Trump said he was open to striking a deal with the Democrats to secure an American future for Dreamers.
“We have to 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,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “I will work with the Democrats on a plan.”
Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act health insurance ends on Dec. 15 and coverage will commence on Jan. 1.
