Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wants President Joe Biden's top agencies to reveal how much tax money has been siphoned from U.S. veterans to illegal aliens who recently arrived in the country. is demanding.
For years, Biden's top agency has been accused of diverting Veterans Affairs (VA) services away from veterans to provide medical services to recently arrived illegal aliens.
in letter Mr. Blackburn sent a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Dennis McDonough asking the department to reveal the amount of taxpayer dollars diverted from VA to shore up resources for illegal aliens at the U.S.-Mexico border. Ta.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs will specifically determine how much funding it will spend on health care and VA benefits (including claims processing) for undocumented immigrants, including but not limited to those in ICE detention facilities and those deported. Did you assign it?” Blackburn wrote.
Blackburn noted reports suggesting that in fiscal year 2022, taxpayers paid nearly $95 million in medical costs for undocumented aliens in federal custody, who “bravely served this country.” It should have been used to support American veterans,” Blackburn said.
Additionally, in fiscal year 2021, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Health Department Allocates More than $74 Million to Veterans Affairs Contractors To assist in processing external referrals and medical claims. [Emphasis added]
But at the same time, veterans and their families are being compensated for their sacrifices by waiting months or even years for their claims to be processed. Currently, 1,048,765 veterans are waiting for officials to process their claims. The Veterans Administration claims the average wait time for a claim to be processed is about five months.However, the agency's own data shows that the backlog is growing and is expected to increase further this year. [Emphasis added]
Veterans Affairs was created to support those who have served and defended this country, but now senior VA officials are worried about the large number of illegal immigrants crossing our porous border. It appears that veterans are placed at a lower level. Since President Biden took office, more than 8.5 million illegal immigrants have entered our country, including 1.7 million known “fugitives.” Hundreds of people on the terrorist watch list have been arrested at the border, including 30 since the start of fiscal year 2024. This problem will continue to grow as Secretary Mayorkas continues to deliberately turn a blind eye to the crisis at our southern border. [Emphasis added]
It is unacceptable to see the Veterans Administration divert resources away from those who defended this country to those who flout their own laws without compunction. That's why I'm calling on the Veterans Administration to immediately stop allocating resources to the care and claims of illegal immigrants. [Emphasis added]
Blackburn similarly asked whether Veterans Affairs officials had “received specific direction from the Biden administration to provide health care and veterans benefits to illegal immigrants,” and whether VA officials “received specific direction from the Biden administration to provide medical and veteran benefits to undocumented immigrants.” The government wants to know what federal laws and regulations allow the transfer of such services.
Last month, Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) blocked the Veterans Administration from using its resources to provide medical services to illegal aliens. introduced the “Veterans Resources Prohibition Act against Illegal Aliens.''
Representatives Jack Bergman (R-MI), Scott Franklin (R-FL), and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) are co-sponsors in the House, and Black Rep. Byrne (R-TN) and Sen. Thom Tillis are also co-sponsors in the House. (Republicans and North Carolina) are co-sponsors of this bill in the Senate.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Please email jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
