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North Dakota joins suit to block taxpayer-funded health care for protected immigrants

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North Dakota joins suit to block taxpayer-funded health care for protected immigrants


BISMARCK — North Dakota has joined a lawsuit to block 200,000 immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children under an Obama administration program from accessing taxpayer-funded health care.

North Dakota Attorney General

Drew Wrigley

signed on to the lawsuit led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. The case, filed Aug. 8 in North Dakota U.S. District Court, will be decided by federal Judge Daniel Traynor, who is seated in Bismarck.

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North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley meets with area reporters at The Forum on March 4, 2024.

Chris Flynn / The Forum

Along with North Dakota and Kansas, 13 other Republican-led states have signed the complaint against the U.S. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The administrative procedure lawsuit seeks to reverse a Biden administration rule that would expand access to health care to recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. In 2012, then-President Barack Obama signed an executive order that protected children brought to the U.S. illegally from deportation.

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President Joe Biden announced in May that his administration would expand health care to DACA beneficiaries, also called “Dreamers.” It classifies those who are “lawfully present” in the U.S. as eligible for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

“I’m proud of the contributions of Dreamers to our country and committed to providing Dreamers the support they need to succeed,” Biden said in a statement. “That’s why I’ve previously directed the Department of Homeland Security to take all appropriate actions to ‘preserve and fortify’ DACA. And that’s why today we are taking this historic step to ensure that DACA recipients have the same access to health care through the Affordable Care Act as their neighbors.”

The Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, was a 2010 law that made affordable health care coverage more available to uninsured U.S. citizens. It also required citizens to obtain health insurance.

The lawsuit claims those protected by DACA do not qualify for taxpayer-funded health care because, “by definition,” they are unlawfully present in the U.S. There are 530,110 such immigrants in the U.S., and the final rule would allow up to 200,000 to be eligible for “a subsidized health plan,” the lawsuit said.

“For over a decade, Obama’s DACA executive order has been defended in court on the basis that is was not changing anyone’s legal status, it was merely exercising prosecutorial discretion not to deport certain aliens,” Wrigley said. “Now, the federal government turns around and says DACA does change aliens’ legal status by making them ‘lawfully present’ for government subsidized healthcare. The lawlessness and hypocrisy of that move is breathtaking.”

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Expanding government-supported health care to DACA beneficiaries would place administrative, financial and resource burdens on states, the lawsuit said. The rule also could encourage more immigrants to come to the U.S. illegally with the hope that their children would qualify for health care under DACA, the lawsuit claimed.

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“It is likely that aliens who would otherwise have returned to their countries of origin will instead remain in the United States because of the eligibility for ACA coverage provided by the Final Rule,” the lawsuit said, referring to the Affordable Care Act.

North Dakota has 160 immigrants protected by DACA, the lawsuit said. Court documents estimated that 6,000 to 9,000 immigrants live in North Dakota illegally and cost taxpayers between $27 million and $36 million a year.

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“Illegal aliens shouldn’t get a free pass into our country,” Kobach said in a statement. “They shouldn’t receive taxpayer benefits when they arrive, and the Biden-Harris administration shouldn’t get a free pass to violate federal law.”

Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia have also joined the lawsuit.

April Baumgarten

April Baumgarten has been a journalist in North Dakota since 2011. She joined The Forum in February 2019 as an investigative reporter. Readers can reach her at 701-241-5417 or abaumgarten@forumcomm.com.





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North Dakota

ND State Fair completes 2026 grandstand lineup with EDM artist Zedd, ‘Turn Up ND!’

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ND State Fair completes 2026 grandstand lineup with EDM artist Zedd, ‘Turn Up ND!’


MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – We now know the entertainers who will round out this year’s North Dakota State Fair grandstand lineup.

In what is a first for the state fair, Zedd will put on an EDM show at the grandstand on Friday, July 24. He’s an award-winning artist and DJ, known for hits like ‘Clarity’ and ‘The Middle.’

The show will feature immersive production, sound and visuals. Tickets will be just over $58, including fees.

The fair wraps up on Saturday, July 25, with this year’s ‘Turn Up ND’ show. It features TI, Da-Baby and Waka Flocka Flame.

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All three have made a name for themselves in the trap and hip-hop music genres.

Tickets for this show are just over $78, including fees.

So here’s a look at the full lineup, which is packed with some major stars, featuring Alex Warren, Jon Pardi, Jessie Murph, Niko Moon and Zach Top.

The fair will hold two days of the popular MHA Indian Horse Relays on July 20 and 21.

For information on tickets, dates and more, go to ndstatefair.com.

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Darlene Struble

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Darlene Struble


Darlene Kay Struble was born April 11, 1946 in Valley City, ND to Frank and Ruby (Satreaas) Klima. She grew up in LaMoure, ND and graduated from LaMoure High School 1964. After graduation, Darlene continued her education at North Dakota State School of Science in Wahpeton before completing her LPN training in Grand Forks. 

Darlene married the love of her life, Charles Struble, on October 25, 1969 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Together, they made their home in Jamestown where she began her career in the OB department at Jamestown Hospital. Her dedication to caring for others continued throughout her professional life, later leading her to Dakota Clinic in Jamestown. Her work was an extension of her compassionate spirit, and she touched many lives until her retirement in 2009. 

She filled her days with many loves; her family above all, but also the quiet joys of gardening, flowers, sewing, crafts, and scrap booking. She had a special gift of preserving memories, and spent countless hours gathering family history. Darlene started her day at the Depot Cafe nearly every morning. It was a simple tradition, but one she shared with her children, friends, and eventually grandchildren. Not only were Depot mornings filled with love and laughter, but an abundance of Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes. 

Darlene passed away peacefully on March 23rd 2026 at Eventide in Jamestown, surrounded by the love of her family. She leaves behind her husband Chuck, her sons; Cory (Deb) Struble and Dave (Leslie) Struble, two sisters; Linda (Gary) Kraft and Roberta (Karl) Wilhelm, six grandchildren; Jayden (Darsh), Allie, Jonah, Grace, Evyn, and Owen, and seven nieces and nephews. She has been reunited with her parents, her daughter, Tiffiney Dick, and her sister, Mary Lee Guffy.

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In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Jamestown Regional Medical Center Foundations, specifically to the OB ward.

Memorial Service- 3:30 PM Saturday, March 28, 2026 at Haut Funeral Home in Jamestown, ND, with Pastor Kristi Weber, officiating.

Interment- Highland Home Cemetery, Jamestown, ND (at a later date).





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Hope’s Corner: Hope Springs Eternal

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Hope’s Corner: Hope Springs Eternal


I spent the first day of spring, last Friday, weeding my back yard flower beds. Let that sink in, because this is North Dakota. We have April showers in May, and May flowers in June. We sometimes have snow in June, too. Weeding my tulips in March is a first.

The tulips have been up for a couple of weeks in my south-facing gardens. The six inches of snow last weekend did not deter their enthusiasm. According to the South Dakota State University Extension Service, tulips close to our shared border usually begin to appear in late March and early April. Mine are early risers this year. I blame the switch to Daylight Saving Time.

My yarrow and hollyhocks have been green and growing for four weeks. The yarrow was a little miffed at the one subzero night a week or so ago, but the hollyhocks merely flattened out and took it in stride. Our friends at the South Dakota Extension Service assure me both of those plant varieties normally sprout in mid-May. Maybe the frequent solar storms and northern lights displays have affected them.

Shortly after that subzero stretch in February, which Katie the Wonder Puppy and I called The Degrees of Despair, the pussywillow began to bud. I cut my first bouquet this past Friday the 13th. And did you know the blossoms are called catkins?

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That shrub is only a couple weeks early in blooming. Obviously, like all cats, my pussywillow is indifferent to solar storms, the northern lights, and Daylight Saving Time. When its feet get warm enough, it stretches out and basks in the sun. Wild catnip has, however, sprouted near the pussywillow’s trunk. I suspect some deep-rooted drug dependency at work there.

But, weeds? There is wild horseradish marching across my tastefully scattered scoria chips. There is quackgrass strangling daylilies and yarrow. There are weeds of unknown name towering over my tulips. Actually, I have a name for those weeds, but that name is best kept to myself.

I pulled out one quackgrass clump, and I am pretty sure its far end stretched all the way to Gladstone. It was like pulling one of those string strips from the top of a fifty-pound sack of sunflower seeds. Not that I regularly buy fifty-pound bags of sunflower seeds for the neighborhood birds, or anything.

I was feeling pretty smug last Saturday after I finished all my weeding. I figured I would need to start mowing in a few more days. I began looking at seed catalogs and dreaming of Big Boy tomato plants.

Late Saturday evening Katie and I went outside to take in the fresh air. It was snowing. Gotta love North Dakota.

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Jackie Hope is the longest running Dickinson Press contributor and columnist. Hope’s Corner is a weekly humorous column with a message of hope.





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