The Biden administration is moving to expand Affordable Care Act coverage and Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of young adults who are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. years ago as children.

What You Need To Know

  • The Biden administration is moving to expand Obamacare and Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of young adults known as Dreamers —undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. years ago as children

  • DACA recipients were undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, never left, and are now allowed to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation — but in many cases without health care

  • The White House has said it is far overdue for Congress to establish a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, but lawmakers have yet to agree on one

  • The GOP now controls the House, and some Texas Republicans have told Spectrum News problem at the border must be addressed first before larger discussions of immigration reform

For some DACA recipients, such as Jesus Contreras, who lives and works in Texas, it's a long overdue move. Contreras, 29, said he was inspired in high school to become an EMT.

"I did one of the ride-outs on the ambulance. It was just like, I knew, you know?" said Contreras. “I really just wanted to help people. And I found a knack for medicine.”

Now he's paramedic in the Houston area who was on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. But as an undocumented immigrant, he's ineligible for federally funded health insurance himself.

"A lot of us, you know, do our due diligence, we pay taxes, we are productive people in this country, and we help other people in this country," said Contreras. "And so we do deserve to have health care; we do deserve to have happy, health lives.”

DACA recipients were brought to the U.S. as children, never left, and are now allowed to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation — but in many cases without health care.

"DACA recipients contribute so much to our communities to our economy, you know, many of them, especially during the pandemic, served on the front lines as health care workers, and farm workers and other industries," Julie Rodriguez, director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, told Spectrum News. "So it was important that when we had the opportunity to be able to extend ACA benefits to them, that we were in a position to be able to do so." 

The White House has said it is far overdue for Congress to establish a pathway to citizenship for so-called Dreamers, but lawmakers have yet to agree on one. 

"These folks who are chipping into the system, and to be shorting them on getting them health insurance is just wrong," said Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas. “Health care is a human right. And immigration is actually a good thing for our community. And so in Congress, we should be passing permanent protections." 

The GOP now controls the House, and some Texas Republicans have told Spectrum News they believe the problem at the border must be addressed before larger discussions of immigration reform. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, one of the few Republicans who has expressed a willingness to work on a bipartisan solution for DACA recipients, agrees. 

Some Democrats said they won’t be surprised if this new health care proposal will face criticism.

"It's just more games, just more a way to just further drag out the divisiveness around this issue instead of looking for real solutions," said Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas. "I think that we can do all of those things at one time. There’s no need to try to prioritize one over the other unless again, you're looking to score points.”

Contreras came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was just 6 years old. COVID didn't stop him from doing his job, and he told Spectrum News he plans to keep doing so despite the uncertainty of DACA's future. 

"Being an undocumented person, you just don't know, you don't know when to quit or to stop, you just find ways to work around issues and problems," said Contreras. "And I feel like that really helped me out during COVID." 

Former President Barack Obama created the DACA program more than 10 years ago, and it's still operating despite challenges led by Texas and attempts by then-President Donald Trump to shut it down. 

The Biden administration is trying to preserve DACA through federal regulations, and the legality of it is being contested in court.