James Online columns on the 2021 House Committee on Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent meetings

Panel on ‘barriers’ to foreign-born solicits one-sided presentations

James Online

by D.A. King l August 25, 2021

“We have outdated barriers and regulations that are preventing people from contributing to the economy. Foreign-born people who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan in the military security system who can’t be police officers in their own community in Georgia because we have restrictive regulations in Georgia” was part of Lynch’s presentation.”… Here.

House committee on ‘barriers’ skips transparency, continues one-sided agenda

James Online

by D.A. King I Sept. 16, 2021

“The day’s recurring theme and complaints from some solicited witnesses was that Georgia’s purported over-regulation of the “foreign-born” reduces profits. Apparently, Georgia is over doing it in insuring qualified personnel for occupational licensing. As this writer mentioned last month in a report on the first committee meeting, there was a calculated effort to confuse foreign-born Americans and non-citizens.”

On his home turf, committee member Rep Kasey Carpenter (R- Dalton) injected his own view that that “licensing should become less and less important because the consumers are actually able to assess the, the, the, the individual.”… Here.

Solicited witnesses to House committee: Expand state government; relax immigration verification, reduce tuition for illegal aliens…

James Online

by D.A. King | Nov 3, 2021

“Proposals that will interest voters but omitted from scant media coverage of the committee agenda include a repeat of the call for changing state law so as to allow foreign law enforcement officers, international occupational licensing reciprocity along with yet another push to “relax” immigration status verification in Georgia’s occupational licensing process.

See also granting refugees “in-state” status for tuition purposes upon arrival. No waiting period.

Another change put forth by the “expert witnesses” was reducing the educational period to become a medical doctor by two years, student loan forgiveness for foreign medical students and “relaxing the immigration issues for foreign medical graduates.”… Here.

“Under President Joe Biden’s term, the VA has processed 161,000 medical and dental care claims for unauthorized migrants in 2022 while postponing medical care for U.S. veterans.”

Townhall

Sarah Arnold | December 03, 2023 10:30 AM

The Department of Veterans Affairs is taking heat for putting the care of illegal migrants first over the needs of those who fought for the United States.

Russ Duerstine, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America and a veteran of the United States Air Force, told Fox News Digital he is concerned much-needed care for veterans will be forfeited and instead given to migrants. The Department of Veterans Affairs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly have an agreement to process claims for illegal migrant medical care.

Duerstine explained that the VA has had an internal agreement with the Health Service Corps (IHSC) since 2002 to provide processing. The organization noted that it is not the VA’s responsibility to offer or pay for healthcare.

Related reading: A second look at veteran priorities and how we treat illegal aliens

He said that Congress needs to launch an investigation to get more information on the agreement.

More on the process from Trending Politics:

When an illegal immigrant detained by ICE requires medical attention, they are usually treated on-site by medical specialists. If they require expert or emergency treatment, they may be moved to an independent private provider. In these circumstances, ICE enters into a contract with the VA’s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) to execute payments to those providers. According to a July report, ICE has hundreds of letters of understanding in which the Health Service Corps (IHSC) of ICE will compensate clinicians at Medicare rates. The VA-FSC’s Healthcare Claims Processing System is used for this, which is a portal that allows clinicians to file and evaluate claims as well as access other services.

ICE has insisted that the VA does not pay for healthcare services for illegal aliens but instead sends funds to the VA-FSC for reimbursements. It noted that the IHSC spent roughly $352 million in FY23 on a “spectrum of healthcare services” to those in ICE custody.

However, the agreement sounded alarms for veterans’ supporters as well as ICE and Border Patrol personnel who are veterans, claiming they were not aware of it.

Darin Selnick, who worked as veterans’ affairs adviser on the Domestic Policy Council and as a senior adviser to the VA secretary during the Trump administration, said, “In my position, we would have stopped this because… read the entire article here.