Ernst Fights to Stop Transfer of Resources for Veterans to Illegal Immigrants

WASHINGTON – As the Biden administration is reportedly leveraging resources and personnel at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to facilitate health care services to illegal aliens in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is fighting to ensure that VA funds are preserved for America’s veterans.

Ernst recently joined legislation to prohibit the VA from providing health care or processing claims for anyone unlawfully present in the United States.

“President Biden’s border crisis is so out of control that his administration is willing to steal from our nation’s heroes and divert resources away from their care,” said Senator Ernst, a combat veteran. “This shouldn’t be up for debate: immigrants who have broken our laws should not receive priority over American veterans, period. I’ll continue demanding border security and standing up for those who defended our freedoms and way of life.”

Background:

Ernst has long been concerned about the Biden administration’s efforts to prioritize illegal immigrants over American veterans. In 2022, she sent a letter to the president opposing the proposal to use VA personnel to deal with “the inevitable escalation of the border crisis” once the Biden administration “unwisely rescinds its Title 42 Order.”

To protect Iowans from Biden’s border disaster, Ernst is leading Sarah’s Law to ensure any illegal immigrant who kills or harms an American is held accountable. She has also been calling on President Biden to put taxpayer-funded border wall materials to use for well over a year. She led the BUILD IT Act and was an original cosponsor of the FINISH IT Act – which was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024.

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