December 10, 2024
[BOISE] – A North Dakota federal court yesterday halted a Biden Administration rule that would have provided taxpayer-subsidized health plans to illegal aliens. Attorney General Raúl Labrador joined a coalition of 18 other state attorneys general in suing to stop the proposed rule from going into effect. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach led the coalition and personally argued the case in October. The court sided with the coalition of state attorneys general and granted a preliminary injunction.
“This is another solid victory for the rule of law,” said Attorney General Labrador. “Federal statutes are clear that illegal immigrants shall not receive Obamacare benefits, but Idaho and other states had to sue to force the federal government to comply. The utter disregard for federal laws, from the illegal immigrants and the Biden Administration both, is unacceptable and indistinguishable.”
The regulation would have made more than 200,000 deferred action for childhood arrival (DACA) recipients eligible for Obamacare. The coalition argued that a 1996 law generally prohibits illegal aliens from receiving federal benefits, and the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, itself says that an alien must be lawfully present in the United States to receive subsidized health insurance.
In addition to Labrador and Kobach, state attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia joined the coalition.
Read the court decision here.
About Raúl Labrador
Raúl Labrador is the 33rd Attorney General of Idaho. The Office of the Attorney General provides legal representation for the State of Idaho. This representation is furnished to state agencies, offices and boards in the furtherance of the state's legal interests. The office is part of state government’s executive branch and its duties are laid out in the Idaho Constitution.
