Healthcare for Illegal Aliens
Republicans say the shut down is because Democrats what healthcare for Illegal aliens (and yes, there are specific reasons why they use that term). Democrats say that is a lie because it is already illegal for undocumented people (and yes, there are specific reasons why they use that term) to get healthcare. Who is telling the truth? Who is lying?
I think one of the big problems is that people do not understand what the terms are. They do not understand all of the nuances involved in the terms Illegal aliens and undocumented people. I found this article to be really helpful (it is not a political article—it is just explaining current immigration trends).
Did immigration dramatically go up under Biden? Yes. Is our immigration system broken? Yes. There hasn’t been comprehensive reform since 1986. Do most Americans (recent or distant immigrants) support deporting those who come illegally—especially if they are criminals? Absolutely. But who are these people? What is happening? Is the Trump Administration going about this deporting process in a just manner? Are they doing what they said they would do (deporting criminals)?
First, let’s look at this graph of all first-generation immigrants (so foreign-born people-citizen and non-citizen). This study was done in 2023. In 2024, Biden actually curbed immigration quite a bit, and 2025 Trump has continued that, dramatically (You can read about that in the article as well). So at the time when immigration was at its highest (2023), there were 37.8m naturalized citizens (my husband is one of those), 11.9 Lawful permanent residents (that is like green card holders, like my friend Tyago, and also the status given to refugees), and 2.1 Temporary lawful residents (that is like those here on visas, like my friend Isaac). Then you see the GRAY AREA of 14m.
That GRAY AREA has its own graph that we look at next. This is groups of U.S. unauthorized immigrants. These are the people who are here illegally (they have no deportation protection) and the people who are here in the gray area: they do not have legal status, but they have permission to TRY to get legal status (they have some deportation protection). They are actively involved in a process of trying to obtain legality and citizenship: and if they violate that process, they move into the other section of having no deportation protection.
I think most people can understand one group in this part of the grey area: DACA—kids who were brought here to America and consider this their home: they want to become citizens, they are actively working to do whatever they are told to do to become citizens: but our broken immigration system has held them in limbo their whole lives, through NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN (discussing if we agree with the other groups on the list having some protections is another discussion for another time, as is our feelings about Biden era policies).
Once these distinctions are made, it is much easier to process the first information.
For the Trump Administration, when they said that Democrats want to give illegals healthcare, they meant for the section of unauthorized immigrants that have some deportation protection: that are ACTIVELY TRYING TO DO IT THE “RIGHT WAY.” They meant the Asylum applicants, parole, crime/violence victims, TPS, DACA, and border releases. Can you lawfully call those people illegal aliens? Yes. Do most Americans consider them illegal? I don’t think so—if they actually understand the groups included in that.
When Democrats said “That is a lie, it is already illegal to give unauthorized immigrants healthcare” they meant undocumented people who have no deportation protections. Which is true. Now: are there some people, documented and undocumented, who are receiving health care benefits that shouldn’t? Absolutely. No government program is free from fraud, and never will be. We can only continually do our best to stop the gaps (how much fraud is actually happening is another discussion for another day).
So we can see how both sides can call the other side a liar, while feeling personally virtuous.
As an American, I think it is important to understand these nuances and definitions for immigration. It helps us not vilify (or be offended) when others disagree with us. Once we do understand these details, we can clearly speak about what we, as the American people, want and don’t want. Knowing what I know:
1. I support the Trump Administration deporting those who are here illegally, and who don’t have any deportation protections: prioritizing those who have committed crimes first. I believe this must be done in a just and legal manner.
2. I do not support the Trump Administration deporting those who are unauthorized immigrants, but have some deportation protections because over the years, even though our immigration system is broken, we have tried to find ways for people to continue to try to earn citizenship, and this is what the system currently is. This includes Asylum applicants, parole, crime/violence victims, TPS, DACA, and border releases.
Some things that are important to note:
1. Even at best estimates, Trump, using all of his might, can only deport 1 million a year. There are 8 million people that fall under the category that I support him deporting: plenty of options.
2. Deporting people is hard. Deporting people in a non-violent and just manner is even harder. It is much easier to deport the people who are actually “doing it the right way. Standing in the right line.” And so, as most often happens, people who have quotas to meet (ICE), they go after those who are the easiest to get, not the ones the American people actually think should be deported. Not the actual criminals, who are a very small percentage of that unprotected left side of the graph.
3. I think most people, when they think of people who are in America illegally, are thinking of the people without deportation protection. They want to make America safer against those who are criminals. They want people to “stand in line” and do it the “legal way.” Me too!
4. To have the Trump Administration, who knows (or at least should know) the difference between the two groups of unauthorized immigrants, to combine them as the same is misleading at best, and lying for their own narrative at worst.