Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Sunday blasted a decision by the Biden administration to allow illegal migrants access to the coronavirus vaccine.
It’s concerning to me because I certainly know a lot of people, people that are in higher-risk categories who have not gotten the vaccine yet and why should non-citizens who don’t pay taxes be treated better and and given the opportunity to be safer — than our citizens?” Paxton asked during an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
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“To me that … actually seems morally wrong — to ignore your own people,” he added.
In a statement Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said, “It is a moral and public health imperative to ensure that all individuals residing in the United States have access to the vaccine… once eligible under local distribution guidelines,” according to Reuters.
Biden seeks to overturn former President Donald Trump’s stricter border control measures with executive orders and legislation. His eight-year path to citizenship plan would allow all illegal immigrants living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021 to achieve temporary legal status in five years and to apply for citizenship after an additional three years.
Individuals would be expected to pay taxes and be subject to background checks during this process.
Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has declared the legislative portion of Biden’s plan to be “dead on arrival” because it is too “far left” for serious consideration.
The Biden administration is not encouraging migrants to cross the southern border and has attempted to reduce expectations of mass asylum by suggesting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a strong reason to continue to restrict immigration.
