Georgians should not lose their health care to ICE immigration agent bonuses

As the saying goes, “don’t tell me what your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money, and I’ll tell you what they are.”

Republicans in Congress are playing a zero-sum game with our lives and showing us that they are prioritizing cruelty over care.

As health care costs rise and people struggle to pay for their prescriptions, my constituents are not happy with the ways in which Republicans are prioritizing our tax dollars. They have been loud and clear – they do not want to see cuts to health care spending in exchange for billions of dollars going to immigration boondoggles.

Border agents would get new trucks at the expense of school lunches

Credit: hand

Credit: hand

Among countless other provisions, the Senate’s bill provides billions of dollars in salary bonuses for immigration agents.

It provides close to a billion dollars for new cars for Customs and Border Protection, despite a documented rising trend in crashing those same vehicles in dangerous chases. And it provides a $10 billion discretionary fund for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s use.

Worse yet, the federal government wants to provide billions to private prison companies, despite 911 calls from those same facilities reporting lack of food, space, or hygiene. To fund these provisions, the bill cuts billions from health care and food assistance.

Cuts that could lead to hospital closures and increased health care costs for hundreds of thousands of working Georgians as Georgia, specifically, stands to lose over $500 million in Medicaid cuts.

Cuts that defund SNAP, putting 1.4 million Georgians at risk of losing some or all their benefits, in addition to defunding the program that provides lunches for some of our students and helps Georgia farmers.

While students in our school district won’t be able to afford lunch, border patrol will be able to buy new trucks.

Georgia state budget could suffer the impact of federal funds loss

Even Georgians who have private insurance will feel the impact. Georgians using the state’s health care exchange will see their insurance premiums go up. Health insurance companies are preparing to set premiums rates for open enrollment this summer and the impending cuts and cost increases will doubly impact all Georgians.

If these cuts in the proposed budget go into effect, it will have a profound impact on our state budget. It is possible that state lawmakers like me will be asked to come back to the Capitol for a special session to redo the budget. It could lead to cuts to other important parts of our budget to pay for this reckless federal spending. This is not what the people of Georgia deserve.

Georgia has one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation (11.4% of the state vs. 8% nationwide), according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In addition, 16% of working-age residents in our state live without health care each day, the work of the federal government this week will only exacerbate these numbers.

While the president and Republicans in Congress are obsessed with raiding work sites with masked men in unmarked vehicles, they are sacrificing health care for 15 million Americans to pay for it.

This bill is a betrayal to the people of Georgia. It is time for Republicans in Congress to be accountable to the people of Georgia. What is more important – affordable health care for hundreds of thousands of Georgians or funding harmful, messy immigration policies?

That’s the fundamental question of this “Big Beautiful Bill.” I hope our representatives choose the correct answer.

Georgia state Rep. Dr. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, represents District 108. She is a mom and microbiologist.