[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 19, 2023)] [House] [Pages H1876-H1879] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-19
Chamber: HOUSE
Mrs. RAMIREZ: tonight, I am convening a Special Order hour for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where we are focused on our shared commitment and shared urgency to make comprehensive immigration reform and universal healthcare our reality. We are one step closer to doing so for DACA recipients, or Dreamers, who have been waiting and are still waiting for us to make good on our long-overdue commitment to a pathway to citizenship for them. Healthcare is a human right, full stop. I know saying healthcare is a human right can feel more like a slogan or a hashtag than a call to action that anyone will actually do something about. I have certainly felt that myself and felt frustrated by the simplicity of that call to action contrasted with a deflating lack of change. Some people think it is too lofty and that we should start smaller. What does it mean, though, to start smaller? When it comes to healthcare, that means dividing people into who is worthy of healthcare and who is not. I will take a quick moment to thank everyone who doesn't give in and doesn't give up on envisioning a better world that has more than enough resources for all of us because I know that you get pushback, doubt, and detraction. It is those big, lofty goals that keep us rooted in our why and keep pushing us for better. That is why, last week when President Biden announced his proposal to expand eligibility for Medicaid and Affordable Care Act benefits to Dreamers, we all celebrated. DACA first started in 2012, over a decade ago. There are approximately 600,000 DACA recipients living across the United States. They are healthcare workers, they are teachers, they are parents, and they are neighbors. About 35,000 Dreamers call my home State of Illinois their home. One of them is my husband, Boris Hernandez, who has lived in the U.S. since he was 14 years old. He has now lived in the U.S. more than he ever lived in Guatemala. Collectively, Dreamers pay $9.4 billion in State and Federal taxes every single year. For all these years, access to healthcare through the ACA or through Medicaid hasn't been available to Dreamers. That is a policy failure with life and death consequences. Right now, DACA recipients can mainly only access healthcare if their employer provides it. Otherwise, they are largely reliant upon the State they happen to live in to have a State-funded healthcare program. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than a third of DACA recipients don't have any healthcare insurance whatsoever. We know what happens when you deny access to affordable healthcare. People avoid going to the doctor as much as possible because they can't afford to go. Health conditions that may only need preventive care or some kind of medication go undiagnosed, untreated, and get worse and worse until it is a life or death emergency. Before I came to Congress, I had the deep honor of serving in the Illinois House of Representatives, where I led legislation with the Latino Legislative Caucus, the Healthy Illinois coalition, and Governor J.B. Pritzker to create what is now State law that expands Medicaid coverage to all residents age 42 and up regardless of legal status. This made Illinois the first State in the entire country to provide healthcare coverage to immigrants, regardless of status. By the time this passed into law, it reflected multiple rounds of negotiations. If I could have, I would have had eligibility start at the age of 19 to ensure that there was no break in healthcare coverage for our children who are now adults. I now look forward to working with President Biden's proposed expansion of healthcare coverage to Dreamers and it going into effect so that we can continue to build on the work we have done in Illinois and across the country. Hearing even one story of what expanding healthcare coverage for just one person has meant to them and their loved ones underscores what is true for all of us. We must recognize the importance of providing access to quality healthcare and services for all people, regardless of their citizenship status. Olga, a resident in Illinois, who, because of this new State law, could access medical coverage for the first time, graciously shared her story with me. She said: ``I was born in Mexico, and I came to Chicago in 2004. I came to the United States for a better life for my family. I encountered many obstacles, such as language, work, housing, school for my children, and health. I had to get a dental treatment, but due to the cost, I put off going. Then, it got complicated and more expensive. I managed to save $8,000, but I had to choose between two options: pay for the dentist or pay for my son's university. Having access to medical coverage is a true relief because now I can go regularly to the doctor.'' I share Olga's story because her story is the story of many others, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, whether DACA or otherwise, who live all across our country and still don't have the ability to go to the doctor when they need it. The immediate and tremendous impact she experienced once affordable healthcare was no longer denied is the same immediate and tremendous impact President Biden's proposal will have on all Dreamers.  It feels obvious to say, but the benefits of access to affordable healthcare for someone who is a DACA recipient are the same for all immigrants. It is not just Dreamers. Yet, here is just one example of how we continue to divide and break up the immigrant community into politicized categories that we then use to weigh different members of the immigrant community against each other. Who is and isn't worthy of citizenship? Who is and isn't worthy of healthcare? I say all this as the only Member of Congress in a mixed-status marriage. What I want to make absolutely clear is that our families and our communities cannot be conveniently divided into documentation status and, therefore, neither can our deservedness of healthcare as a human right. That is why The New York Times' reporting this week that multiple staff at HHS warned the administration that migrant children were being hastily connected to sponsors who put them in grave danger cannot be seen as separate. More than 250,000 migrant children have come alone to the United States in the last 2 years alone, and thousandshave ended up in grueling, dangerous, exploitive jobs all across the country, in complete violation of child labor laws. They are away from their families and caregivers. They are not in school, and they are doing graveyard shifts in factories. You can't tell me that is healthy. You can't tell me these children and their families they have been separated from are not deserving of safe, caring sponsors who would prioritize their healthcare, education, wellness, and a pathway to citizenship. I commend President Biden for his proposal for Dreamers. It marks a significant step forward for immigration reform, demonstrating our commitment to protecting Dreamers by providing them with access to quality healthcare and services. But we must recognize this moment, which has been preceded by years of moments, that the brokenness of our immigration system is a failure we share on both sides of the aisle. Let us use this moment to rededicate ourselves to this shared responsibility to fix it humanely, comprehensively, and immediately. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to my colleagues, who will highlight the tremendous impact that President Biden's proposed expansion of healthcare to Dreamers will have and our shared responsibility to make universal healthcare and comprehensive immigration reform a reality after all these years. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Frost).