US states sue over Biden rule extending health insurance to DACA immigrants

By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) - A group of Republican-led states filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to block the Biden administration from allowing up to 200,000 immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to access federally-run health insurance.

The 15 states led by the office of Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach say a rule adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May violates a federal law that prohibits giving public benefits to people who lack legal immigration status.

The rule classifies participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created in 2012 as "legally present" in the United States, allowing them to enroll in basic healthcare programs created by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

But Kansas and the other states in their lawsuit said that because individuals have to lack legal status to enroll in DACA, they are by definition not legally present in the country.

They said the rule improperly encourages DACA recipients to remain in the United States illegally, in turn forcing states to spend millions of dollars on public services for them and their children.

The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Separately on Thursday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an executive order directing state officials to begin tracking the costs to the state of providing medical care to people in the country illegally.

The DACA program offers deportation relief and work permits to "Dreamer" immigrants who were illegally brought to the U.S. overstayed a visa as children. About 530,000 people are currently enrolled in the program, which remains subject to an ongoing legal fight.

Under the HHS rule, which takes effect Nov. 1, DACA enrollees will have access to insurance and related financial assistance such as tax credits and reduced out-of-pocket costs under the change.

Immigration has emerged as a top issue for voters ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election pitting Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, against Republican former President Donald Trump.

Trump, an immigration hardliner, tried to end DACA during his presidency but was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump campaign in May blasted the healthcare rule, calling it "unfair and unsustainable."

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; editing by Diane Craft)