WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., joined his colleagues on a letter to President Biden demanding the Biden administration commit to preventing VA health care professionals from being used to facilitate an expected surge of illegal immigration. The surge comes as a result of the reversal of a Trump-era immigration policy. The senators called on the president to prioritize veterans’ care and services over that of illegal immigrants when the Title 42 authority ends next month. The VA is experiencing a 15-year high turnover rate with its nursing staff and increased vacancies for a wide variety of health care professionals.

“The burden of addressing this Administration's abject failure to contain the crisis at the southern border should not come at the expense of our nation’s veterans,” the senators wrote. “Prioritizing the care of illegal immigrants before the needs of veterans is inconceivable and wrong. We have an obligation to provide quality and timely care to the men and women who bravely served our country. We strongly disapprove of any decisions which hinder successfully fulfilling that mission.”

The letter was led by U.S. Senator John Boozman, R-Ark. In addition to Wicker, co-signers included Senators Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Richard Burr, R-N.C., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Steve Daines, R-Mont.

The full text of the letter can be found here.