White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt walked just up to the line of suggesting that the government should let hospital emergency rooms turn away dying patients based on their immigration status, horrifying former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).
"Should ERs check immigration status before treating a dying patient?" asked a reporter at a gathering on Thursday. Leavitt replied, "That's probably not a question for me to answer. That's a question for healthcare professionals and legal experts to answer."
As liberal reporter Aaron Rupar noted in response to the clip, "That's not a no!"
"The thing that bothers me so much is not the 'we have to enforce our borders and laws.' We do," wrote Kinzinger on X, replying to the exchange. "It’s the giddy joy and celebration they have at the misery of people far less fortunate. Always punching down."
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have falsely claimed that Democrats are demanding free or discount health insurance for illegal immigrants as a condition of providing votes to end the federal government shutdown that began on Wednesday.
In reality, what they want, aside from extending insurance subsidies that keep millions of Americans' premiums affordable, is to reverse cuts made to reimburse hospitals for uncompensated care.
A federal law going back to the Reagan administration requires hospital emergency rooms to treat all patients regardless of ability to pay, which includes immigrants of any status. This does not provide insurance for those immigrants, who are still legally responsible for the bill, but simply ensures hospitals are compensated when required by law to treat them and the patient cannot pay, something that is still a requirement under the Trump administration.