Do Democrats want free health care for undocumented migrants?

The Trump administration blames Democrats for the closure of the United States government, saying that they are pursuing “radical requirements”, including free health care for illegal immigrants.

Vice-president JD Vance said that the Democrats “wanted to close the government because we will not give billions of dollars in health care funding for illegal foreigners”.

President Trump posted on Truth Social: “Democrats want to give money to your health care to illegal foreigners.”

The chief of the Democratic Senate, Chuck Schumer, described the demand for “total, absolute and erasing lie”.

Democrats have put pressure on government concessions on health – an extension of Obamacare’s health insurance grants and changes to Medicaid.

But illegal or undocumented immigrants are not eligible for these programs and the Democrats did not say that they wanted to change this.

The Republicans underlined the democratic proposals to reverse the parties of the changes of Trump in the provision of health care in his bill of tax and expenses, as proof of their complaint.

The Democrats of the Senate refused to support a republican proposal aimed at extending the funding of the government and avoiding closure due to their concerns about health benefits.

They wish to extend improvements to health insurance subsidies under the Act respecting affordable care (ACA) – also known as Obamacare – which should expire at the end of the year.

If they expire, the average payment of the insurance premium for people on the program is set to more than double, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) health group.

Democrats also want to reverse some of the cups and changes to Medicaid in the Trump tax and expenditure bill. Medicaid is the regime managed by the government which provides health insurance to low -income adults, children, pregnant women, older adults and disabled people.

In the coming months and years, tens of millions of Americans are affected by modifications to these regimes.

The BBC Verify asked the White House the evidence of its complaint concerning democrats and health care for illegal immigrants.

He replied by sharing a position of one of his official accounts.

It includes a screenshot of the continuous resolution of Democrats (CR) – their plan to avoid a government closure.

He defines proposals to repeal some of the health changes in the Trump tax and expenditure bill, which was promulgated in July.

A key change that Democrats want to repeal – and that the White House highlights in decline – is a republican decision to restrict health care funded by the federal government for non -citizens.

The provision “Alien Medicaid Eligibility” – which will come into force next October – will only allow “a foreigner legally admitted for a permanent residence” and a small number of other categories to obtain coverage.

This will mean that other groups of immigrants considered to be “legally present” in the United States – for example, refugees who have been authorized to enter the country – will lose access to these advantages, within the framework of the republican plan.

Leo Cuello, research professor at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said: “Immigrants who lose coverage under these provisions are, for example, refugees, victims of trafficking and victims of domestic violence, among others, among others, among others, which are all the law.”

The KFF, citing the analysis of the Congressional Budget Office, indicates that the new restrictions – in the Trump bill – will lead around 1.4 million immigrants “legally present” which do not become insured.

By repealing the restrictions, the Democrats would restore access to health care to many of them, but the Democratic leader of the Hakeem Jeffries Chamber excluded the extension of undocumented immigrants.

“Of course not. The federal law prohibits the use of dollars of taxpayers to provide medical coverage to undocumented persons. It is the law. And there is nothing in anything we have proposed who tries to change this law,” he told CNBC.

The White House says that the current MEDICAIDI admissibility rules “serve as illegal immigration to the United States”.

The right -wing heritage foundation said that changes in Trump’s bill “stop the eligibility for illegal foreigners and other foreigners who are here on a temporary basis. The Senate Democrats … would repeal these changes”.

According to Healthcare.Gov, only American citizens, American nationals and “legally present immigrants” are eligible for coverage.

“According to a long -standing policy, undocumented immigrants are not eligible to register for health coverage programs funded by the federal government, including Medicaid, Chip or Medicare, or to buy coverage via the ACA markets,” said Drishti Pillai, director of the KFF immigrant health policy.

However, they can receive an emergency Medicaid, under a law adopted in 1986.

“Hospitals can obtain Federal Medicaid funding to reimburse them for the emergency services that they must provide to low -income persons, regardless of immigration status, which includes undocumented persons,” said Cuello.

“The Medicaid emergency is a very temporary coverage for emergency services, often a single service one day, not registrations under health insurance as an American citizen,” he added.

Illegal migrants can also be eligible for state -funded health care.

In April 2025, there were 14 more Washington DC states which offered state -funded health coverage to children, regardless of their immigration status, according to KFF Analysis.

All these states except two – Vermont and Utah – are led by Democrats.

New Jersey and Vermont also offer state -funded coverage to low -income pregnant women, regardless of immigration status.

Seven states, including California and New York, have also widened health care coverage funded by the state to certain low -income adults, regardless of immigration status.