A 22-year-old arrangement between the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has drawn ire from conservatives in Congress, who claim it puts health care for detained migrants over that of veterans.
But VA officials say it has no impact whatsoever on veterans’ services or health care — and costs the agency nothing.
Since 2002, the VA’s Financial Services Center, or FSC, has processed medical claims for an ICE program office that is responsible for providing health care for migrants detained by the border security agency. The VA center facilitates the same work under separate contracts for a variety of other federal offices.
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The long-standing agreement with ICE has recently become a political football amid attacks from lawmakers and conservative advocates who have hammered President Joe Biden over a flood of migrants coming across the southern border.
In December, Illinois Republican Rep. Mike Bost, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., introduced a bill called the “No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act,” which would prohibit the VA from using resources to provide health care or process claims for migrants.
In rolling out the proposed legislation, Bost described being “stonewalled” by the Biden administration in obtaining answers on the…
