(CNSNews.com) - President Joe Biden's plan to expand taxpayer subsidized health coverage to Dreamers -- thousands of young people brought to the United States by their undocumented parents -- will "break our bank and every other state's bank," Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick told Fox News on Thursday.
"We can't afford to put the whole world on Medicaid," he said.
Patrick was reacting to a video tweet, in which President Joe Biden announced:
"Today, my Administration is announcing our plan to expand health coverage for DACA recipients, by allowing them to enroll in a plan through the Affordable Care Act or through Medicaid.
“Health care should be a right, not a privilege...And we'll continue to do what we can to protect Dreamers, push congress to give them and their families a pathway to citizenship, and ultimately, peace of mind that they all deserve."
There's just one problem: The law requires Obamacare and Medicaid recipients to be lawfully present in the United States.
But never mind. The White House said the Health and Human Services Department “will shortly propose a rule amending the definition of ‘lawful presence,’ for purposes of Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage, to include DACA recipients.”
Patrick noted that in Texas, 50 percent of all children are on Medicaid, and 51 percent of all Texas births are billed to Medicaid.
He said Medicaid plus education consumes about 85 percent of Texas' budget, while the rest is public safety and "a few other things."
“And the more you increase Medicaid and the more people you put on it, the more you bust budgets and you bankrupt states. That's why Texas has fought back about expanding Medicaid.”
Patrick said Biden is telling DACA people "a big lie."
"You have to live and remain in Texas to get Medicaid or have a Social Security Number or be a citizen. Well, they ask us to ignore the fact they're not a citizen, they won't have a Social Security number, so they can't qualify anyway.
“This is just a big fraud on these kids who came to America, brought by their families -- many of them have been here a long time, but they can't get a job anywhere, or a legitimate job, because they're not citizens, they don't have a Social Security Number.
"We can't afford to put the whole world on Medicaid."
Patrick noted that Texas has just passed a law aimed at taking border control away from the federal government, which isn't doing the job.
According to Patrick, Bill 2424 says, "if you're a criminal and cross the border in Texas with a record, you could face up to life in prison, the strongest law in the land on the border; and if you cross the first or second time, you spend one to two years in jail.
"We're going to arrest them, we're going to put then in prison, and let Biden take us to court and we'll see who wins."
Patrick said border control is the "number one issue" in Texas for sure:
"Under Biden, we've had seven million people at least come in that we've apprehended. Got-aways, people we didn't see, since he's been president -- by the time he leaves is 10 million people or more.
“It is the number-one issue. Crime all over the country, fentanyl everywhere, the number-one killer of people 18 to 45.
"It is broken, they're doing this on purpose. It's not an accident. They know it's not secure. They want to flood this country. They want to turn these people one day into citizens, give them a voting card so that they control America.
"That's what it's all about. Because everyone who comes here is saying, he's our George Washington, we thank him. They want to vote for Democrats. And that's what this is all about -- one day, taking over America."