New York Immigration Coalition Statement on GOP Health Care Bill

May 8th, 2017

The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday, 217-213, to approve the American Health Care Act. The following is a statement from Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition:

"The House of Representatives voted Thursday to rob health care from 2.7 million New Yorkers and give a huge tax break to the rich. The AHCA singles out some immigrants, including people fleeing from violence applying for asylum, and makes them ineligible for health coverage. These representatives have voted to make it more difficult for newborn babies, people with chronic conditions, people with disabilities, older people, and low-income people to obtain health insurance and care. It goes far beyond repealing the Affordable Care Act in pulling the rug out from under millions of people by destroying the Medicaid program.

This unconscionable, mean-spirited bill is not yet law. We must rally the opposition of our New York senators and senators around the country to stand strong against this attempt to steal health coverage from more than 24 million people. But rest assured, no matter what ultimately becomes of this brazen attempt to dismantle our health care system, the votes of Reps. Collins, Faso, King, Reed, Stefanik, Tenney, and Zeldin stand as a testament to their disregard for New Yorkers."

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The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) is an umbrella policy and advocacy organization for nearly 200 groups in New York State that work with immigrants and refugees. The NYIC aims to achieve a fairer and more just society that values the contributions of immigrants and extends opportunity to all by promoting immigrants’ full civic participation, fostering their leadership, and providing a unified voice and a vehicle for collective action for New York’s diverse immigrant communities.