Sen. Marsha Blackburn recently called out the Biden administration, demanding to know how much federal funding has been diverted from American veterans to illegal immigrants. Throughout Biden’s presidency, illegal immigration through the southern border has sky-rocketed, straining the infrastructure and resources throughout localities in the American interior.
Biden’s agencies have consistently faced accusations of redirecting taxpayer dollars from Veteran Affairs (VA) to the provision of healthcare benefits to illegal immigrants. Sen. Blackburn sent a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, requesting the disclosure of the amount of resources that have been withheld from our nation’s veterans.
“How much funding has the VA allocated specifically for the medical care or veterans’ benefits (including claims processing) for illegal immigrants, including but not limited to those in ICE detention facilities or those who were deported?” Blackburn wrote.
Blackburn pointed out reports that indicate in Fiscal Year 2022, taxpayers paid roughly $95 million in medical expenses for illegal immigrants in federal custody. These resources could have gone to benefit American veterans who bravely served the country.
“Additionally, in Fiscal Year 2021, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) healthcare arm budgeted more than $74 million for the VA’s contractor to assist with outside referrals and medical claims processing,” Blackburn continued.
The Tennessee senator continued, illustrating how Veteran Affairs is in dire need of resources as over 1 million veterans are still waiting in a massive backlog to have their claims processed. Furthermore, the average wait time is nearly half a year, where this figure is only expected to become longer.
“Yet at the same time, veterans and their families are rewarded for their sacrifice with months- and years-long waiting times for their claims to be processed. Currently, 1,048,765 veterans are waiting for staff to process their claims. The VA claims that the average wait time for a claim to be processed is about five months; yet the agency’s own data shows that its backlog has increased and is expected to grow this year,” the letter continued.
Blackburn reminded the VA Secretary the very purpose the organization was created for, while criticizing the seemingly greater importance that has been placed on migrants who have entered the country unlawfully. The senator also illustrated the vast scale in which illegal immigrants are pouring into the country.
“The VA was created to support those who have served and protected this nation, and now senior VA officials have seemingly placed these veterans on a tier below the flood of illegal immigrants that are crossing our porous border. Since President Biden took office, more than 8.5 million illegal immigrants, including 1.7 million known “gotaways” have entered our country. Hundreds of individuals on the terror watchlist have been caught at our border, including 30 since the start of Fiscal Year 2024. This problem will continue to grow as Secretary Mayorkas continues to turn a willfully blind eye towards the crisis at our southern border,” Blackburn continued.
“It is unacceptable to see the VA redirect its resources away from those who defended this country in favor of those who flout its laws without remorse. As such, I ask that the VA immediately stop allocating its resources to the care and claims of illegal immigrants,” the letter said,
Watch Rep. Andy Biggs sound off on the border crisis here:
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