President Joe Biden’s administration can open the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to illegal aliens enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
In May, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced a final rule to open Obamacare rolls to some DACA illegal aliens enrolled in the program. Former President Barack Obama first created the DACA program via executive order, shielding more than a million illegal aliens from deportation through the years.
Earlier this month, District Judge Daniel Traynor granted a preliminary injunction and stay to ensure the Biden administration could not open Obamacare rolls to DACA illegal aliens while the case makes its way through the federal courts.
This week, though, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit responded to an appeal from the Biden administration, granting a stay to the district court’s order:
Appellant’s request for a temporary administrative stay of the district court’s December 9, 2024 order, pending this court’s consideration of Appellant’s motion to stay the district court’s order pending appeal, is granted. Appellees are directed to file any response(s) to Appellant’s motion for stay pending appeal by December 18, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. Central Time. Any reply from Appellant is due by 12:00 p.m. Central Time on December 19, 2024. [Emphasis added]
As a result, DACA illegal aliens will be allowed to enroll in Obamacare plans in all states including the 18 states that sued the Biden administration to stop the plan.
Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia had joined Kansas in the lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration.
Prior cost estimates have suggested that, should about 100,000 DACA illegal aliens enroll in Obamacare, it would cost American taxpayers about $300 million annually. Other estimates have put the annual financial burden at about $2.8 billion.
In his 2012 State of the Union Address, Obama vowed to Americans that illegal aliens would not be eligible for Obamacare, to which Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) shouted, “You lie!”
The case is Kansas v. United States, No. 1:24-cv-00150 in the U.S. District Court of the District of North Dakota.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
