A coalition of 15 states, led by Kansas, has filed a lawsuit to block the Biden-Harris administration from extending taxpayer-funded healthcare through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to illegal immigrants.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, along with attorneys general from 14 other states, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, Western Division. The defendants in the lawsuit are the U.S. government and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The lawsuit challenges a recent CMS rule that broadens the definition of “lawfully present” individuals in the U.S. to include recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The change would make DACA recipients eligible for ACA benefits, which the coalition argues is both illegal and financially burdensome.

Illegal immigration has increased significantly under the Biden-Harris administration, reaching record numbers. This has become a major concern for a growing majority of Americans during this election cycle. Vice President Harris, who has been appointed as the ‘border czar,’ has been criticized for not taking effective action to reduce the influx of illegal migrants and drugs, despite being assigned the task by President Biden early in their term.

The complaint argues that DACA recipients, who are considered to be unlawfully present in the U.S., should not be eligible for federal public benefits under the ACA. The states claim that the CMS rule violates the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which restricts federal benefits to specific qualified aliens.

According to the lawsuit, DACA recipients do not meet these qualifications. “Aliens granted deferred action under DACA are not included in the definition of such qualified aliens,” the complaint reads. It further argued that “DACA recipients are, by definition, unlawfully present in the United States.”

Established by then-President Obama via executive order in 2012, DACA allows certain individuals brought to the U.S. as children, who lack lawful immigration status, to receive a renewable two-year reprieve from deportation and become eligible for a work permit.

The program has been a focal point of political and legal debates, and various efforts have been made over the years to either terminate or expand it.

The lawsuit further argues that the CMS rule change is an overreach of executive authority and is inconsistent with federal law. The plaintiffs accuse the Biden-Harris administration of trying to circumvent Congress to extend benefits to individuals who are in the country illegally.

Also, the complaint argues that the rule contradicts the ACA, which restricts eligibility for benefits to “citizens or nationals of the United States and aliens lawfully present in the United States.”