The state of California will be the first in the nation to offer taxpayer-funded health insurance to illegal aliens, according to its 2024 budget. The decision comes amid the sharp increase of attempted crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, breaking a new record this month.
Immigrants, regardless of their legal or illegal status, will be eligible for the state’s low-income health insurance program, Medi-Cal. The state opened up eligibility for the program to illegal immigrant children in 2015.
The state expanded the program dramatically during California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) tenure, including expanding the program to younger and older illegal aliens.
Overall, the program now covers more than a third of the Golden State’s population, with the state estimating that upward of 1.2 illegal immigrants using the service.
California has one of the largest populations of illegal immigrants in the country, at 4.4 million.
šØBREAKING: Starting Jan. 1, ALL UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS, regardless of age, will qualify for Medi-Cal, California's version of the federal Medicaid program.
Middle-class Californians work harder, get a second or third job if you have to because someone has to pay for it. pic.twitter.com/dOoelElmRs
— I Meme Therefore I Am šŗšø (@ImMeme0) December 29, 2023
The decision came as California has opened a number of other programs to its illegal immigrant population. Unlike states such as Texas and Florida, California has not been sending migrants to other locations in the country, such as Chicago and New York.
California has been one of the key centers of the recent migrant wave. The flow of migrants has increased significantly since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. In addition, the number of migrants has increased substantially since the Biden administration announced the end of former President Donald Trumpās Title 42 asylum program.
Despite the fact that the month is not over, the United States has set another record for attempted border crossings. There have been at least 276,000 migrant encounters, which already set a new record. This broke an earlier top total set in September 2023.
This year also saw a sharp increase in the number of migrants attempting to enter the country, with more than 2 million such attempted crossings recorded.
By December, some of the days had more than 10,000 such attempted crossings.
