Jansing jumped in to say the bill does not provide free health care to undocumented immigrants and that federal law blocks them from enrolling in ACA plans, Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP. Undocumented immigrants are barred from buying ACA marketplace coverage and from receiving the premium subsidies Democrats want to extend for citizens and lawfully present enrollees. The Republican claim that Democrats shut down the government to secure “free health care for illegal immigrants” has been repeatedly debunked by independent fact checkers. That fight, not new benefits for undocumented immigrants, is what detonated the latest budget standoff. Vance leaned into that posture, portraying Democrats as choosing undocumented immigrants over citizens, a charge that evaporates under basic program rules.