Illegals Overrun Healthcare System, Wyo Senator Wants Answers

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) questioned HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra about the impact of illegal immigration on hospitals.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was asked several times but continued to dodge the question by the Senator as to why “hardworking Americans should pay” for foreign lawbreakers’ healthcare.

Barrasso read off a list of sanctuary cities being overwhelmed by illegal immigrants.

He showed how those cities' financial resources were drained as well as the strain on health funds and infrastructure.

Denver Health was one example. That facility saw more than 20,000 illegally present foreigners seeking medical care in 2023. Their system is 'critical.'

Watch Wyoming Senator Barrasso and  HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra in the video below.

“Can you please explain why it is the responsibility of hard-working American taxpayers to foot the bill for all of this care for people, nine million now, from all across the world who have flooded their way into the United States?” (Barasso).

What I could tell you is that we have extended the resources and authorities that we have at HHS to try to be there to help any healthcare facility when there is a way that we can go in to be supportive. I don’t know of a particular case that you might want to mention, but I know that we are prepared to be supportive of any facility where the authorities that you have given us allow us to go in and support, (Becerra).

The federal government doesn’t pay for the health care of every legal U.S. citizen, It seems like it’s in the position now of having to do it all for these illegal immigrants. Why should the American citizen be forced to pay for illegal migrants to receive this same care for free? Because that’s what’s happening. (Barasso).

Becerra said he did not “know how particular states operate their healthcare systems” but that when Medicare or Medicaid approaches HHS “we’re ready to try to be responsible.”

You are aware that when a hospital is inundated with people who are not paying, they have to shift the cost to the people that are paying?” Barrasso asked. “And that’s what’s happening right now, all across the country and specifically at so many of the sanctuary cities. (Barasso).

Cook County Health in Chicago is one of many hospitals being overrun. They have seen around 81,000 illegal immigrant visits since 2022, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.

“That Wasn’t My Question” Hageman On Biden Classified Documents

At the House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) questioned Special Counsel Robert Hur about his decision not to charge President Biden with a crime.

In her usual style, Hageman's questions were direct. She almost all asked for a yes or no answer.

There were several moments where Mr. Hur either did not understand the question or tried to deflect and change the subject.

When this happened Rep. Hageman would pull him back to the original question so there was no misunderstanding about what was asked.

As an attorney with decades of experience battling the government in court, Hageman knows how to keep a witness on topic.

Hageman did not focus too much on the president's poor memory, as mentioned in the Hur Report.

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur wrote in his report.

Hageman wanted to focus on President Biden's mental state when he was not president.

Did he keep classified documents at home, in deteriorating cardboard boxes and in the trunk of his car, in his garage, back when he was in a stronger mental state and knew that what he was doing was illegal?

You found that Mr. Biden fully understood his legal responsibilities related to the handling of classified materials. Which is why you concluded in your report that Mr. Biden 'Willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a citizen. (Hageman).

There was a bit of back and forth between the two for context, and then Hageman pushed on.

Please listen to my question. What I'm getting at is that Mr. Biden fully understood that he could not keep classified information at his home as both a former senator and vice president. Isn't that right? He understood that, correct? (Hageman).

Hur went back to his assessment of what a jury would see in Mr. Biden, an old man with a failing memory.

That isn't my question. (Hageman).

The congresswoman continued to push on what Biden understood back when he became a private citizen and kept the documents.

I don't think that's accurate congresswoman. Because, as Vice President, Mr. Biden was authorized to keep classified documents in his home. (Hur).

But after he left, he knew that he was not entitled to keep classified information at his home, correct? (Hageman).

Hur finally conceded the point but then tried to change the subject to Biden's notebooks, which was not the issue Hageman was addressing.