The way our country treats its veterans is a shame. The country that thousands of homeless veterans put their lives on the line for isn't taking care of them. That number should be zero. Programs designed to help veterans aren't doing their jobs well. For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is notorious for large backlogs of benefits claims.
During the Obama-Biden administration, the backlog started skyrocketing. It more than doubled during its first term from approximately 390,000 outstanding claims to roughly 884,000 outstanding claims. The backlog increase resulted in a skyrocketing number of veterans dying while waiting to receive care. It was a national disgrace.
Despite the problem, Obama's wingman, Attorney General Eric Holder, refused to investigate it. Why? To cover up the fact that the administration had been warned during the transition and throughout its first term about the VA using secret lists to hide the true state of the backlog. The White House did nothing about it and let the problem spiral out of control. At least 307,000 veterans died while waiting for medical treatment from the Obama-Biden administration.
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Now that Joe Biden is president, one might think he would have learned from that scandal and done more to help our veterans. Heck, his oldest son, Beau, was a veteran. That alone should have made Biden care enough about the problem to ensure that the VA was doing a better job of assisting our veterans.
It turns out that there's a group of people Biden cares more about than our veterans: illegal immigrants. Despite the ongoing problems with these backlogs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Biden administration is using VA resources to help illegal immigrants receive medical care.
"According to a July report from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency contracts with the VA to process medical claims reimbursements involving illegal immigrants even though they did not serve in the U.S. military," reports Just the News. "Medical professionals treat illegal immigrants detained by ICE on site, but when specialized or emergency care is required, they are transported to private providers, according to Fox News."
According to the ICE report, in fiscal year 2022, the VA processed healthcare claims for illegal immigrants totaling more than $63.6 million in medical services. That number is expected to rise in fiscal year 2023, the report explains, because providers have one year after the date of service to submit claims.
Terrence Hayes, spokesperson for the VA, told Fox News that the VA doesn’t provide any healthcare services to individuals who ICE detains. All healthcare expenses are paid for and provided by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Health Service Corps, he said.
As of October, the VA backlog hit 300,000 claims again, meaning that the claims have been pending for 125 days or longer. That number is expected to increase to over 400,000 in 2024.
During a November hearing of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) demanded answers from the Biden administration about the VA's involvement in providing healthcare to illegal immigrants. According to Derrick Jaastad, the executive director of the Office of Emergency Management for the Veterans Health Administration, it is part of the agency's mission of caring for federal interagency partners, citing the administration of thousands of COVID-19 vaccines as an example.
“Joe Biden is putting illegal immigrants over America’s veterans,” Tuberville said in a statement. “It is outrageous. Our veterans should not be forced to wait in long lines at VA medical centers and clinics to get the care they EARNED while illegal immigrants waltz across our open border and get taxpayer-funded healthcare they NEVER earned. Our veterans should have the best healthcare we can provide—and illegals who have no right to be in this country don’t deserve a dime from the taxpayer. Congress needs to pass this legislation to stop Joe Biden from robbing veterans to pay off illegals.”
The Concerned Veterans of America (CVA) agreed. “The VA is spending a significant portion of time and manpower managing care for noncitizens who didn’t earn it. But the problem is less about who is getting the care and more about who is not,” the organization said in a statement.
According to [CVA], documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, VA staff are misleading and discouraging veterans from using community care options when the VA can’t meet standards for wait times. Russ Duerstine, executive director of CVA, said in the statement that the Biden administration is failing “our nation’s heroes,” by failing to provide timely health care and putting up obstacles to veterans in need.
In addition to the lack of services for veterans, “the VA has paved the way for unauthorized migrants and non-citizens to easily use community care intended for veterans. This betrays the veterans who earned care through their blood, sweat, and tears,” Duerstine said.
It is shameful that veterans are competing with illegal immigrants to get the care that they need. But that's the reality of Joe Biden's America.
