Rep. Don Beyer, who represents Virginia’s 8th district in the U.S. Congress, addressed claims regarding government shutdown negotiations and health care for unauthorized immigrants in a series of posts on October 1, 2025.
In his first post, Beyer stated, “Republicans have been falsely asserting that Democrats are shutting down the government to fund free health care for unauthorized immigrants.” He continued in the same message, “Unauthorized immigrants are largely barred from federally funded health care programs.”
Beyer followed up with another post linking to a news article and wrote, “More: Fact check: Trump falsely claims Democrats want to give free health care to ‘illegal aliens’ in government shutdown battle” on October 1, 2025.
In a third post later that day, Beyer referenced an Associated Press report: “Via the Associated Press — FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to ‘illegal immigrants’”.
These statements come amid ongoing debates about federal funding and immigration policy. According to multiple fact-checking organizations and news outlets, unauthorized immigrants are generally not eligible for most federally funded health care programs in the United States. The debate over whether Democratic lawmakers support expanded benefits for this group has intensified during recent budget negotiations.
Don Beyer has represented Virginia’s 8th District since 2015 after succeeding Jim Moran. Born in Trieste in 1950 and currently residing in Alexandria, Beyer graduated from Williams College with a BA in 1972.
