Biden plans to expand health care access to DACA immigrants

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President Joe Biden said on Thursday that thousands of immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children will soon be able to apply for federally funded health insurance. Participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, established in 2012 by former President Barack Obama, would be eligible to apply for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges. Biden’s expansion relies on a regulatory change proposed Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services that would recognize DACA recipients as having a “lawful presence” in the country.

How many people are enrolled in DACA? About 580,000 people were enrolled in the program at the end of 2022, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is prohibited from processing new applications, and a federal judge in Texas is expected to rule on a Biden administration push to turn the program into a federal regulation.

Dig deeper: Read Addie Offereins’ report in Compassion about the DACA program’s uncertain future.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.