FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 3, 2024
Media Contact:
Anabel Mendoza | anabel@unitedwedream.org
Ivonne Rodriguez | irodriguez@americasvoice.org
Washington, D.C. — In a win made possible by the tenacious organizing of directly impacted immigrants and allies, the Biden Administration announced today that DACA recipients will now be able to access lifesaving healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Shortly after announcing DACA in 2012, the Obama administration wrongly excluded these immigrant youth from the ACA. Years of immigrants and advocates refusing to give up and continuing to fight for inclusive access to healthcare have made today’s a reality.
Importantly, under this new rule, enrollment for DACA recipients will not occur until the next open enrollment period opens on November 1st.
The Home Is Here Coalition — representing 100+ organizations across the country — released the following statement:
“When any one of us is prevented from being able to see a doctor and detect, treat, and recover from illness, all of us are at risk. Removing the current barriers from the Affordable Care Act that kept DACA recipients from critical and lifesaving care makes everyone in our communities healthier. Today we celebrate with all the young people, immigrants, and allies who advocated for years and made this a reality.
While this decision is a victory, we recognize that millions of undocumented people are excluded from access to life-saving healthcare. We also cannot deny the threats immigrant youth and their loved ones are facing against our safety in the very states we call home –from Texas to Louisiana, to Idaho, Iowa, and Oklahoma. From state-led attacks aimed at ending DACA altogether, and efforts to revoke our right to reproductive care, to policies like Texas’ SB4, which would give police unchecked power to racially profile, detain, and use often deadly force on our communities.
The moment we’re in should serve as an urgent wake-up call to the Biden Administration and state and local leaders across the country that our lives remain on the line and we need immediate, permanent protections that go wider and deeper. We commend the Department of Health and Human Services for moving today’s rule forward and we urge the Biden Administration to not stop here.”
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The Home Is Here national coalition is fighting to protect DACA recipients, their families, and all immigrant communities at the U.S. Supreme Court. DACA recipients are undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. They are also our nurses, our teachers, our coworkers, our family members, and our friends — and their home is here. For more information visit HomeIsHere.Us.