Attorney General Bonta Defends Biden Rule Expanding Healthcare Access to Dreamers

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in defending a Biden Administration rule expanding healthcare access to deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) recipients – or Dreamers – by making them eligible for participation in the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace. According to the UC Berkeley Labor Center, the rule will enable approximately 40,000 uninsured Dreamers in California to access subsidized health coverage through the state’s healthcare exchange, Covered California. The rule, which is set to go into effect on November 1, 2024, was challenged by Kansas and 18 other states.

“Dreamers pay billions of dollars in taxes each year to help fund programs like the Affordable Care Act. Yet until now, they’ve been unable to access these programs themselves,” said Attorney General Bonta. “As home to more Dreamers than any other state in the country, California is proud to stand up for their right to access affordable healthcare.”

Dreamers arrived in the United States as young children and often know no other country as home. Over decades, they have built lives and jobs for themselves and their loved ones, had children of their own, and contributed billions in federal, state, and local taxes to fund essential services and programs. Nearly 30% of Dreamers reside in California, paying more than $2.1 billion in federal taxes and $1 billion in state and local taxes each year, according to the Center for American Progress. 

Attorney General Bonta joined a multistate coalition in strong support of the rule when it was first proposed. Today, the Attorney General joins a similar coalition in defending the final rule as a lawful expansion of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage and urges the district court to deny the Kansas-led coalition’s request for a preliminary injunction to delay or block the rule from going into effect, and at the very least to deny nationwide relief and allow the rule to go into effect in California and other states which do not oppose it.

In filing the brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of New Jersey, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

A copy of the brief can be found here.