Editorials & Other Articles

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(130,497 posts) Sat Oct 4, 2025, 01:25 PM Oct 4

Snopes - Democrats didn't shut down government to fund health care for 'illegal aliens.' Here's context

Democrats forced a U.S. government shutdown because they want to fund free health care for people without legal immigration status in the United States.

Rating: False

Context
Democrats are trying to extend tax credits that make some health insurance premiums more affordable, but immigrants in the country illegally are not eligible for these programs. Republicans have cited a provision in a Democratic proposal as funding health care for people in the country illegally, but it simply repeals restrictions Republicans placed on federally subsidized health care eligibility for immigrants with a legal right to be in the country.

As the U.S. government ground to a halt in fall 2025 over disagreements about federal spending, Republicans centered their message around one claim: Democrats forced the shutdown to give free health care to immigrants in the country illegally.

"The Democrats shut down the government because President Trump and the Republicans will not force American taxpayers to pay for free health care for illegal aliens," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a news conference Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began (see 1:07). Then, she turned it over to Vice President JD Vance, who said: "The Chuck Schumer, AOC wing of the Democratic Party shut down the government because they said to us, 'We will open the government, but only if you give billions of dollars of funding for health care for illegal aliens'" (see 5:24).

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/government-shutdown-health-care/

4 replies

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Highlight:

Snopes - Democrats didn't shut down government to fund health care for 'illegal aliens.' Here's context (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Oct 4 OP

FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to 'illegal immigrants' LetMyPeopleVote Oct 4 #1

The Democrats CR EXPLICITLY excludes illegal aliens. LetMyPeopleVote Oct 4 #2

Undocumented people CANNOT AND WILL NOT receive premium tax credit BY LAW. LetMyPeopleVote Oct 5 #3

trump is lying LetMyPeopleVote Oct 5 #4

LetMyPeopleVote

(172,090 posts)

1. FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to 'illegal immigrants'

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Sat Oct 4, 2025, 05:32 PM

Oct 4

trump and the republicans are lying about Democrats wanting to give health care to illegal immigrants

FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to illegal immigrants.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) 2025-10-04T21:00:10.857Z

https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-government-shutdown-health-care-immigrant-11b3ec0066407a17b407bc8e43962fd9

President Donald Trump and other high-ranking Republicans claim Democrats forced the government shutdown fight because they want to give free health care to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Democrats are trying to extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable on marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, and reverse Medicaid cuts in Trump’s big bill passed this summer. But immigrants who entered the country illegally are not eligible for either program.

Here’s a closer look at the facts:

CLAIM: Democrats shut down the government because they want to give free health care to immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally.

THE FACTS: This is false. Democrats say they are pushing for the inclusion of key health care provisions in the next congressional spending package. In particular, they are seeking an extension of tax credits that millions of Americans use to buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchange and a reversal of Medicaid cuts made in the bill Trump signed into law in July. However, immigrants in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for any federal health care programs, including insurance provided through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. Hospitals do receive Medicaid reimbursements — which would be reduced under Trump’s bill — for emergency care that they are obligated to provide to people who meet other Medicaid eligibility requirements but do not have an eligible immigration status, according to KFF, a nonprofit health policy research, polling and news organization. This spending accounted for less than 1% of total Medicaid spending between fiscal years 2017 and 2023.

Sabrina Corlette, founder and co-director of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, called the Republicans’ claims “a flat-out lie.”

“The law is very clear,” Corlette said.