𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐍𝐎 𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt turned a routine briefing into a fact-check when a reporter tried to claim illegal immigrants never receive taxpayer-funded health coverage. - M.A. Rothman

“𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴? 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺.” Leavitt pressed.

She pointed to what the Biden administration actually did: paroling 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 of migrants into the country under a patchwork of temporary protections, then watching many draw on the same safety-net programs hardworking, taxpaying Americans depend on. 

• The numbers back her up — federal data shows Medicaid spending on emergency care for illegal immigrants jumped 𝟏𝟒𝟐% 𝐭𝐨 $𝟗.𝟏 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 in fiscal year 2024, nearly tripling since the end of Trump’s first term.

The reporter had no follow-up.

• 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭.