The Department of Veterans Affairs has a backlog of one million claims for healthcare and benefits from veterans as sources are diverted to illegal immigrants, according to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

“We checked this week, it is up to one million claims for healthcare and benefits,” Blackburn said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast. “As we were doing some oversight work of the VA, we realized that what they were doing was using some of their resources and their money to allow veterans – to approve veterans for community care – and to process claims, or to approve community care, for illegal immigrants, not for veterans, and then also to process claims for illegal immigrants.”

According to an ICE report, in fiscal year 2022, the VA processed healthcare claims for illegal immigrants totaling more than $63.6 million in medical services.

“When you’ve got a backlog of a million veterans that are waiting to get healthcare, and are waiting to get benefit answers, and you find out that money that should be being used to solve their situations is being used for illegal immigrants … it is absolutely maddening,” Blackburn said.