VA must stop working for illegal immigrants

For far too long, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has failed in its mission: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who served in our nation’s military, their families, caregivers, and survivors.” As a VA user, I know firsthand the back-and-forth our veterans often endure. Many veterans battle with the VA for years to get help. Some never receive it. Hang-ups, endless wait lists, repeated delays in urgent treatment: Veterans are familiar with the litany of neglect.

Worse, this mistreatment comes at the very time the VA is processing medical claims from illegal immigrants.

Last December, I was shocked to read news articles exposing the absurd deal between the VA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I wrote a letter with 23 of my colleagues to VA Secretary McDonough. To my surprise, the Secretary confirmed that VA employees are indeed working on the medical claims of illegal immigrants detained by ICE. With illegal immigration at historic highs due to the Biden administration’s reckless border policies, I expect their workload to be quite high these days.

VA staff are tasked with processing government-funded health care claims for an invasion of illegal immigrants, despite longstanding problems with its backlog of claims and customer service. In particular, the VA’s disability claims backlog has been a source of significant frustration in the veteran community. After several years under the Trump administration in which the VA’s disability claims backlog was consistently below 100,000 claims, the backlog has nearly tripled under the Biden administration, to 273,307 as of last week. This is an abject failure, and our veterans deserve better.

Even if the VA were a well-oiled machine that ran faster than expected, I would not support devoting resources to illegals. Yet the fact that the agency is already struggling to provide adequate care to veterans makes the contractual agreement between the VA and ICE even more troubling. Furthermore, Congress appropriates funds to the VA to provide services to our veterans, not illegal immigrants. Imagine what these employees could accomplish if they devoted all of their time and resources to serving those who have sacrificed for our country, instead of working for foreign lawbreakers. The contrast could not be more stark. This is a slap in the face to our veterans and hard-working American taxpayers.

I believe veterans deserve an apology from our government for this alarming policy, but we need to do better than excuses. We need to fix this and make sure the VA stops working for illegal immigrants.

I am pleased that my colleagues in the House of Representatives agree with me and have approved my amendment to the House-passed Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. My amendment ensures that no VA funds can be used to process ICE medical claims. I am also pleased that the bill prohibits the VA from providing benefits directly to illegal immigrants. It was once understood that VA resources were only for veterans and their survivors. Today, congressional amendments are needed to ensure that VA’s mission remains on track. The Senate must fight to ensure that the final version of this bill prioritizes veterans over illegal immigrants as well.

The VA exists to serve American veterans who have risked their lives to protect our great country. Many have made tremendous sacrifices and returned from deployments with life-changing physical and mental injuries that required lifelong care. Our government promised to take care of them. Meanwhile, illegal immigrants detained by ICE receive “comprehensive noncitizen medical and mental health care upon arrival at a facility,” as stated on ICE.gov. Migrants have “access to daily sick calls, 24-hour emergency care, … screening, prevention, health education, diagnosis, and treatment while in ICE custody.” Given the VA’s slow pace, veterans are right to be offended by the immediate and comprehensive care illegals receive, and even to question whether our government prioritizes the care of illegal immigrants over our veterans.

It’s high time we started providing our veterans with world-class care. Yet we continue to force them into the same old system.

I represent one of the largest veteran populations in the country, in Southwest Florida. That’s why it’s appalling that the VA hospital serving Florida’s 17th Congressional District ranks in the bottom five percent of veterans hospitals in the country.

I firmly believe that veterans deserve choices in their health care. My priority legislation, the Veterans True Choice Act, would expand health insurance options for disabled veterans and give serving veterans the ability to use Tricare Select and Tricare for Life. Recent reports show that up to 24 veterans die by suicide every day. My legislation will save lives by giving those in crisis options outside of the slow and failing VA.

Defending our nation’s heroes is always at the heart of my work in Congress. Having served in the U.S. Army and participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom, I know what our veterans go through when they return home. The last thing our veterans need is to compete with illegal immigrants for VA resources, navigate red tape, and suffer from substandard medical care at the very agency dedicated solely to serving our heroes.

Our veterans have served our country honorably, and it is high time our government started serving them.