WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), the lead Republican appropriator for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funding and a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is demanding the Biden administration commit to preventing VA health care professionals from being used to facilitate an expected surge of illegal immigration as a result of the reversal of a Trump-era immigration policy.
In a letter to President Biden, Boozman and 10 of his colleagues call on the president to prioritize veterans’ care and services over that of illegal immigrants and abandon any plans for VA personnel to carry out its Fourth Mission in support of an interagency response when the Title 42 authority, which allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to prohibit entry to those who pose health risks such as COVID-19, ends next month.
“[The] “Fourth Mission” is not a tool to clean up the mess from a foreseeable and avoidable crisis, especially while the VA is already experiencing record-high turnover rates and issues of workforce resiliency amongst its health care employees,” the senators wrote.
The VA is experiencing a 15-year high turnover rate with its nursing staff and increased vacancies for a wide variety of health care professionals.
“The burden of addressing this Administration's abject failure to contain the crisis at the southern border should not come at the expense of our nation’s veterans. Prioritizing the care of illegal immigrants before the needs of veterans is inconceivable and wrong. We have an obligation to provide quality and timely care to the men and women who bravely served our country. We strongly disapprove of any decisions which hinder successfully fulfilling that mission,” the senators continued.
The letter was signed by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Richard Burr (R-NC), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Cornyn (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK).
Source: https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=84EBDC97-F835-4731-9EA1-F07B2B68AAAA
