Widespread 'fact-checker' failure on public health benefits for illegal immigrants

In trying to win the public relations battle over the shutdown, Republicans have argued that the Democrats’ budget would grant health benefits to illegal immigrants. “That’s false,” NPR says. “This is false,” according to the Associated Press. “False,” declares Snopes.

The fact-checkers are wrong. The Republican claim is not amenable to a true-or-false “fact check” because it rests on a defensible opinion of who counts as an illegal immigrant. Furthermore, experts at organizations that count illegal immigrants use essentially the same definition of illegal that Republicans are employing in this debate.