“A fear tactic,” a “red herring,” and a “flat-out lie” — that’s how Democrats described Republicans’ claims that the left wanted to give free health care to illegal aliens last year during a government shutdown. Yet three weeks before voters decide who controls Congress, U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and other Democrats are making “Medicare for All” — including for illegal aliens — a central campaign promise, and a host of Democrat senators are backing a bill that would cement that policy in law.
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” bill would create a right for illegal aliens and other noncitizens to get taxpayer-funded health care. Under the current version, health care would be provided to “every individual who is a resident of the United States.” The Health and Human Services secretary would “promulgate a rule that provides criteria for determining residency for eligibility purposes under this Act.”
And as Unleash Prosperity pointed out, “Just in case ‘all residents’ isn’t clear enough, the Medicare for All Act also prohibits ‘discrimination’ based on ‘citizenship status.’”
The bill has 18 Senate Democrat cosponsors, including some who accused Republicans of lying last year when Republicans said Democrats wanted to give illegal aliens free health care.
During an October 2025 interview, host Tony Dokoupil asked Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., about Republican claims that Democrats were fighting for taxpayer dollars for illegal aliens.
“It is a flat-out lie! It is a flat-out lie!” Warren jumped in. “There is nothing in Medicaid, nothing in Medicare, that permits one undocumented immigrant to get one dollar of assistance. None.”
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., similarly dismissed the same accusations in an interview around the same time.
“This is really a red herring. It is something that they’ve been saying and it gives me a chance to set the record straight. Federal law today prohibits health insurance benefits, the Affordable Care Act, tax credits, Medicare, Medicaid. It says it cannot be used at all by people who are undocumented, who are not here legally. That is the law. There is nothing that we are trying to do to change that law,” Smith said, adding the claims were just “a fear tactic.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said the claim that Democrats wanted to provide health care for illegals was “a big lie.”
It wasn’t just Democrats in office accusing Republicans of lying. A so-called “Factcheck” from Saranac Hale Spencer in November of last year read: “Trump Falsely Claims Democrats Want $1.5 Trillion for ‘Illegal Aliens.'”
The “fact-check,” along with Warren’s, Smith’s, and Hollen’s comments, came amid the government shutdown and fight over existing programs, but their support for Sanders’ Medicare for All legislation is incontrovertible proof they want to give health care to illegal aliens — the very thing Republicans kept saying Democrats wanted to do. Sanders’ bill exposes Democrats’ sweeping denials as mere ploys to help portray a policy they themselves support as nothing more than a Republican fabrication.
With control of Congress on the ballot in three weeks, voters should judge Democrats not by what accusations they write off, but by what legislation they actually support: free, taxpayer-funded health care for illegal aliens. A Democrat majority would give these lawmakers more power to pursue an agenda that includes the very same policy they denied supporting. What’s more, such a proposal has a price tag in the trillions. Democrats keep saying they care about affordability, but it appears that’s nothing more than a campaign myth to attract voters before they completely reverse course in January.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2