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(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration is proposing a rule that, if finalized, would open eligibility for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program.

On Thursday, the White House announced the Department of Health and Human Services is planning to put forward a rule that expands the definition of “lawful presence” to include DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers.” The administration intends to implement the policy change by the end of the month, according to the White House.

“Health care should be a right, not a privilege, and my administration’s worked hard to expand health care. And today, more Americans have health insurance than ever,” President Joe Biden said in a pre-recorded video announcing the decision. “Today’s announcement is about giving DACA recipients the same opportunity.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra applauded the decision, noting about a third of current DACA recipients do not have health insurance.

Some recipients have had access to coverage through work, military service, and programs some states have expanded to them.

Advocates say undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients deserve to be rewarded for their help keeping the economy afloat during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These were people who were providing health care, or providing other types of care, helping keep small businesses open and ensuring that people had food to eat. At the same time, many of these same individuals who were part of our frontline workforce during the pandemic, they themselves were left behind unable to access many of the assistance programs that the rest of us were able to access,” said Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub. “Not only was this just completely unfair and unjust, but it also makes no sense. When we have healthier people and we have people who are able to access health care that moves the entire country forward. That ensures that we have healthier communities at large.”

Paloma Bouhid, a DACA recipient, says she lost health care coverage when she was laid off from her tourism and hospitality job during the pandemic and was “terrified” of contracting COVID. She recently started her own company organizing homes, businesses and other spaces for clients and had to get private insurance for some medical tests she had to undergo.

“It’s so expensive and it’s such a big part of my financials, being a small business owner, that I’m still very paranoid about getting sick or being in an accident. It’s just absolute paranoia,” Bouhid said. “This comes as a huge relief to know that if something does happen I am covered and I can take care of myself and prioritize my health and know that’s going to be okay.

While immigrant advocates largely praised the president’s announcement, some conservatives slammed his plan to expand health care for DACA recipients.

“Rewarding illegal immigration will bring more illegal immigration. This is an insult to American citizenship,” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted.

There are approximately 580,000 current recipients of the program, and nearly 800,000 young migrants have benefited from DACA, according to data collected by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows. The program was launched by the Obama-Biden administration in 2012, which allowed some immigrants who were brought to the country as children to legally work and stay in the country for renewable periods of up to two years if they meet several strict requirements. DACA does not provide a pathway to citizenship.

Multiple legal challenges have threatened the fate of DACA since its inception, with a current lawsuit working its way through district court in Texas. In 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that the program was unlawful. A federal appeals court later upheld his decision but allowed protections for current recipients to remain in place pending the lower court’s review of the Biden administration’s efforts to codify the program into administrative law. While recipients are still allowed to apply to renew their status every two years through DACA, new applicants have been barred for nearly two years.

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(CHICAGO) — The Democratic National Committee’s decision to have Chicago host its 2024 convention caps a lengthy decision making process, leaving many Democrats pleased but others in rival cities wishing they had gotten the nod.

The DNC announced on Tuesday that the Windy City will hold the nominating convention, the party’s first full event since 2016, after the coronavirus pandemic rendered its 2020 bash, originally slated to be held in Milwaukee, a largely online affair. Chicago beat out Atlanta and New York City to win the confab, letting Illinois lawmakers take a victory lap due to the city’s progressive politics and strategic location in the hot regional battleground of the Midwest.

“It’s a testament to Chicago and Illinois’s priorities aligning with Joe Biden and the Democratic Party the past several decades. Abortion is legal and protected, assault weapons were recently banned, and Chicago is one of the strongest union towns in the country. We’re the complete package,” said Illinois Democratic strategist Tom Bowen.

Democrats who spoke to ABC News said Chicago checked several of the party’s most important boxes in terms of logistics, politics and policy. The city — home to 2.7 million people — is a travel hub and, having already hosted nominating conventions for both parties, has the existing infrastructure to absorb the tsunami of attendees.

It’s also a progressive city in a blue state situated in the middle of a national battleground. Illinois is located near Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, three competitive states that are at the heart of Democrats’ strategy to reelecting President Joe Biden next year.

“Illinois is the anchor of the blue wall states in the Midwest and the perfect place to springboard the reelection campaign’s work in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan,” Bowen said.

Coverage of the convention is likely to spill over into neighboring states, helping reach the kind of swing voters who may not live in Illinois itself.

The friendly politics of Chicago were underscored with last week’s election of progressive Brandon Johnson as mayor-elect over a more moderate Democrat with ties to conservative-aligned groups.

And on policy, having the party powwow in Illinois helps avoid awkward disagreements with a conservative state government. Biden and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are largely aligned, and the state has adopted Democratic orthodoxy on both economic and hot-button social issues like abortion. The city also has a strong union presence in its hotels, something lacking in Atlanta.

And to top it all off, Pritzker, himself wildly wealthy with a deep fundraising network, personally assured national Democrats that they wouldn’t go into debt if they hosted the convention in Chicago.

“It’s no secret that the Midwest is key to holding the White House and electing Democrats up and down the ticket in 2024. Now, after all, Chicago and the entire Midwest looks like America and is the capitol at the heart of the nation,” Pritzker said in a victory lap on Tuesday.

“Illinois is home to a bustling metropolis, a strong rural tradition, thriving suburbs, not to mention a long-standing history rooted in civil rights and workers’ rights and reproductive rights,” he added.

Still, while picking Chicago may not have burned bridges in either New York or Atlanta, the decision ruffled some feathers in both cities, which would have enjoyed a surge of attention and a potential economic windfall if selected.

“The city would have received a significant benefit from the convention monetarily, from a tax perspective and from an image perspective,” said New York City-based Democratic Hank Sheinkopf, referencing ongoing concerns about crime. “The best cure for crime is people walking around, people believing there is no crime, that it’s overrated, [and] it’s not as bad as people think.”

And supporters in Atlanta pushed back on Democrats’ worries about unions’ smaller footprint compared to Chicago, saying the city’s role in delivering the Senate and White House for the party should have outweighed those concerns.

“Name the state that gave you the Senate, and a margin this time: Georgia. Name the state that put 2020 out of reach for Trump: Georgia. Shouldn’t the Democrats in those states see the Democratic convention in their state? We can’t always say we can only have conventions in states that only have x-number of labor hotels,” said Jarrod Loadholt, a partner in the Ice Miller law firm’s public affairs branch who lives in Georgia.

Still, strategists in other cities said any perceived snub wouldn’t harm cooperation with the national party moving forward.

“We couldn’t compete financially. There’s no shame in that,” said one Georgia Democratic strategist, referencing Pritzker’s financial assurances.

“We made a very good presentation. They took us seriously. And the Biden administration has someone in Georgia every week, so they are certainly not ignoring us. We are grateful to them. We look forward to continue working for them and reelecting them. There is zero anger and zero bitterness,” the strategist added.

While Biden himself has not officially declared his reelection campaign, he and members of his administration are fanning out across the country to tout the record of his first two years in office, including a bipartisan infrastructure bill and an effort to boost the domestic semiconductor industry.

“The period leading up to and through the convention also creates a unique opportunity to engage people throughout the region and to highlight the positive impact of Biden-Harris economic policies like the Infrastructure Act,” said Karen Finney, a former DNC official and a Democratic strategist with ties to the White House.

So far, Biden’s only challengers are self-help author Marianne Williamson and attorney and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who filed paperwork to run and is expected to announce his bid on April 19.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Florida House of Representatives on Thursday passed a six-week abortion ban that would replace the state’s 15-week ban. The bill now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he would sign a six-week ban should it be sent to his desk.

The ban would prohibit all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before most women know they are pregnant. The ban makes exceptions for when the woman’s life or health is at risk and cases of rape or incest, under certain conditions. Even with its current ban in place, Florida has fewer restrictions compared to nearby states.

The bill passed by a vote of 70 to 40. It passed in the Senate last week.

There are four conditions in which physicians can provide abortions under the ban.

To provide abortion care under the law’s exceptions, two physicians would have to certify in writing that the termination of the pregnancy is necessary to save the woman’s life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman, according to the law. This does not including psychological conditions.

If two physicians are not available, one physician would have to certify in writing that there is a medical necessity for the legitimate emergency medical procedure to save the pregnant woman’s life or avert irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function and certify another physician is not available for consultation, the law states.

Abortions will also be permitted in cases where the pregnancy has not progressed to the third trimester and two physicians certify in writing that the fetus has a fatal fetal abnormality, according to the law.

The fourth condition according to the law in which physicians can provide abortions is if the pregnancy is as a result of rape or incest and the gestational age of the fetus is not more than 15 weeks, as determined by a physician. At the time the woman schedules or arrives for her abortion appointment, she must provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record or other court order or documentation proving that she is a victim of rape or incest.

Physicians will be required to report incidents of rape or incest in minors to the central abuse hotline, according to the law.

Only physicians will be allowed to provide abortion services.

Anyone who performs or actively participates in an abortion outside these rules commits a felony of the third degree. If the abortion results in the death of the woman, the crime becomes a second-degree felony.

Abortion pills must also be disbursed in person by physicians, prohibiting abortions over telehealth visits and prohibiting the delivery of abortion pills by mail. Physicians must also be physically present in the same room as the woman when the termination of pregnancy is performed or when dispensing abortion pills.

New data shared with FiveThirtyEight indicates that over 66,000 people couldn’t get an abortion in their home state after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June. Florida, however, surged in abortions in the wake of the ruling with people from other Southern states visiting, according to the data.

In anticipation of the ban passing, abortion providers in the Florida told ABC News they’ve seen a flood of patients from other states.

“Literally every clinic session we are seeing patients from other states. Every time I’m in the health center, there is a patient — at least one if not multiple — from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, all over the Southeast, who traveled hundreds of miles to get their health care,” Dr. Sujatha Prabhakaran told ABC News.

In turn, it’s created a domino effect where women in Florida are unable to get appointments in their home state.

“That means that patients in those centers are having to travel,” Prabhakaran said. “They’re not able to access care in a timely way in their own communities. So, then they’re having to travel further south to access care in Florida.”

ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The FBI on Thursday made a probable cause arrest in North Dighton, Massachusetts, in connection with the leaked documents probe.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Jack Teixeira was taken into custody in relation to the investigation into “alleged authorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information.”

Teixeira, 21, is a member of the Massachusetts Air Force National Guard.

“FBI agents took Teixeira into custody earlier this afternoon without incident,” the attorney general said. “He will have an initial appearance at the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.”

Garland continued: “I want to thank the FBI, Justice Department prosecutors and our colleagues at the Department of Defense for the diligent work on this case. This investigation is ongoing. We will share more information at the appropriate time.”

The FBI said it was continuing to conduct law enforcement activity at the residence where Teixeira was arrested.

“Since late last week the FBI has aggressively pursued investigative leads and today’s arrest exemplifies our continued commitment to identifying, pursuing, and holding accountable those who betray our country’s trust and put our national security at risk,” the FBI said in a statement.

Earlier, at the Pentagon, spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, said, “It is important to understand that we do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information. This was a deliberate, criminal act — a violation of those guidelines.”

Media reports have described the documents as being shared among a small group of users on Discord before getting wider notice. The Washington Post interviewed one person, who said he was part of the group, who believes the alleged leaker, who he said goes by the moniker “OG,” worked on a military base.

President Joe Biden broke his silence earlier Thursday on the leak of apparently highly classified documents after the Washington Post report.

Biden told reporters in Dublin that the Justice Department was “getting close” in its criminal investigation into how the U.S. intelligence documents — which seem to contain top-secret information about the Ukraine war and other parts of the world — ended up online.

“Right now there’s a full-blown investigation going on and, you know, with the intelligence community and the Justice Department, and they’re getting close,” Biden said when asked if he could provide an update on the probe. “But I don’t have an answer.”

The disclosure has raised diplomatic issues over the apparent revelation that U.S. intelligence has been spying on its allies as well as on its adversaries. Asked whether he was concerned about the leak, Biden played down its potential impact.

“I’m concerned that it happened,” Biden said. “But there is nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence.”

The Washington Post characterized the alleged leaker as a “young, charismatic gun enthusiast” who began disseminating the documents in a private server group on Discord last fall.

The Washington Post cited an interview with a teenager who said he was part of the group, which he said he joined at the start of the pandemic and contained roughly two dozen members, some from foreign countries.

The teen referred to the leaker as “OG” and said he was in his early to mid-20s, though the minor denied to share his real name, where he lived or the military base where he said the person worked. The minor said “OG” had dubious views of law enforcement and the intelligence community, and would rant about “government overreach.”

Washington Post reporter Shane Harris described the leaker as someone who was “trying to impress his friends,” and the newspaper said it was unlikely he intended for the documents to spread across the internet.

ABC News has not independently confirmed the report.

A Pentagon spokesman, when asked for comment on the Washington Post report, referred ABC News to comments made by Department of Defense spokesman Chris Meagher during a press briefing on Monday.

Meagher said at the time that the department was “working around the clock to look at the scope and scale of the distribution, the assessed impact and our mitigation measures.”

A senior U.S. official told ABC News Thursday highly sensitive material has been shared too widely within the government for some time. The official had no information on the source of this leak but called it “a massive betrayal” by whoever is responsible.

After reports surfaced that authorities wanted to speak with a member of the Air National Guard, the National Guard Bureau issued a statement, saying, “We are aware of the investigation into the alleged role a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman may have played in the recent leak of highly-classified documents.

“The National Guard takes this issue very seriously and will support investigators. National security is our foremost priority and any attempt to undermine it compromises our values and degrades trust among our members, the public, allies and partners,” the statement said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in his first public comments on the leak Tuesday, also said he was limited in what he could say about the matter amid the DOJ’s investigation.

He told reporters he was first informed of the apparent leak on April 6, after some documents were posted on popular social media sites, and that investigators were focusing on documents dated Feb. 28 and March 1.

“We take this very seriously and we will continue to investigate and turn over every rock until we find the source of this and the extent of it,” Austin said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Thursday said it would take the fight over an abortion pill to the Supreme Court after an appeals court ruling that would restrict access to the widely-used abortion pill mifepristone.

The appeals court ruling was set to take effect early Saturday morning.

“The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA to deny in part our request for a stay pending appeal. We will be seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend the FDA’s scientific judgment and protect Americans’ access to safe and effective reproductive care,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Story developing…

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