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 of Boozman’s questions to VA Secretary Denis McDonough

WASHINGTON— After pressure from U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) to prioritize veterans needs over the care of illegal immigrants, Biden administration officials backed away from further discussions of deploying veterans resources to the southern border to address the expected surge of migrants once Title 42 is lifted.

Boozman pressed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough for his commitment to protect veteran resources in a hearing Wednesday.

This follows testimony earlier in the day from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirming the VA “will not be allocating resources to the border.”

The senator has been leading efforts to prevent the Biden administration from moving veterans resources to the southern border.

Boozman introduced legislation to block the administration from such a move and previously led a group of his colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden laying out the current staffing shortfalls in the VA health system and demanding he commit to preventing VA personnel from being utilized to confront the expected surge at the southern border as a result of ending Title 42.

He has spoken out publicly calling on President Biden to rule out the move and wrote about its implications in a piece for the Washington Examiner.