A trio of states with Democratic governors considered as potential presidential candidates in 2028 have taken action in recent weeks to freeze or reduce the coverage of health care funded by the government for undocumented immigrants.
Govs democratic. Gavin Newsom from California, JB Pritzker from Illinois and Tim Walz of Minnesota have largely assigned proposals to budgetary deficits from the original plans aimed at extending health care to immigrants without legal status.
But the movements also occur in the context of a broader debate within the Democratic Party on how to manage immigration, a problem that led him in the last elections and that President Donald Trump and the GOP continued to try to capitalize.
The plans, which would reduce the coverage of health care for undocumented immigrants in the three states led by the Democrats, only years after its enlargement, have angry the progressives and the defense groups of immigrants, who warn the risks of the party which feed its base – in particular as protests against the deportation plans of Trump of Trump of Trump burst through the country.
The latest development occurred on Tuesday in Minnesota, after the two chambers of the Legislative Assembly adopted a bill aimed at putting an end to the health care funded by the State for undocumented adults.
Bipartite effort advanced through The Chamber Controlled by the Republican and the Democrat controlled Senate in the context of attempts to balance the state budget. It is now going to Walz, who said he would sign it.
The bill would end the admissibility of undocumented adults in Minnesotacare – the health insurance program funded by the state for low -income residents – effectively reversing one of the signature policies wins Walz secure secure During a historic legislative session in 2023When Democrats fully control the state government. Undocumented children would remain eligible to register for the program under the legislation.
In California, Newsom unveiled a budgetary plan last month This would reduce the advantages of health care for undocumented immigrants – a striking reversal of its universal health care promises for all state residents, regardless of their immigration status.
Newsom’s plan in its 2025-26 budget called for freeing registration for undocumented adults to receive the complete scope of the state Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal. The Newsom office said that the changes would only apply to new candidates over 19 years old, that existing registrants would not be launched from their plans and that frost, which would start next year, would not apply to people registered with limited plans.
The changes proposed by Newsom also included a new monthly bonus of $ 100 for adults aged 19 and over with an “unsatisfactory immigration status” from 2027.
His expansion of Medi-Cal cost much more than his administration. Newsom said the changes will help balance the state budget, which has managed a deficit of several billion dollars which he attributed to Trump prices, as well as the increasing registration costs in Medi-Cal.
Meanwhile, Illinois remains on the right track by the end of the month To end a program – Called health benefits for immigrant adults – which provides state -funded health care coverage to more than 30,000 low -income adults who live in the state without documentation.
Likewise, Illinois’ program was more expensive than expected when it was created in 2021. The last Pritzker budget, which the Legislative Assembly led by the Democrats adopted last month, proposed to eliminate it by July 1.
At least Four other states Offer a certain type of health care coverage to adults, regardless of their immigration status. Several others offer health care coverage for children, regardless of their immigration status, because California, Illinois and Minnesota will continue to do so if the new plans come into force.
While the moves would help California, Illinois and the States of Minnesota recalibrate their budgets, a domestic policy bill supported by Trump promises the Congress to reduce Medicaid funding for states that offer health care to undocumented immigrants. Trump has also signed a decree this year targeting the access of undocumented immigrants to government assistance programs.
In response to NBC News questions, Newsom’s spokesperson Elana Ross reiterated her declaration in her initial announcement of changes last month that “instead of making the program back down – which means cutting people for basic care – we ceiling it”.
The Pritzker office said in an email that “this year, spending a balanced budget required the difficult decision that reflects the reality of Trump and the Republicans in the process of tanning our national economy and trying to suppress health care.”
A Walz spokesman did not answer questions in terms of Minnesota, which is the result of a compromise after republican legislators pushed to finish the whole Minnesotacare program.
“No one has everything they wanted,” Walz said last month After having concluded a provisional agreement with the Republicans on the budget, which was finalized in a special session this week. “There were very difficult conversations on the problems that were very expensive for each of these caucus. But in the end, we were able to conclude this agreement. ”
Refusing the left
Immigrant defense groups have taken a tour of the movements, saying that they risk the device of the health care system more and castigated the Democrats for succumbing to Trump’s attacks.
“We urge the heads of state to rely on their progress, rather than endangering the health of their residents,” said Tanya Brooder, principal lawyer for health and economic justice in the National Immigration Law Center. “In particular as extremist politicians and target immigrants, we are counting on state officials to do the right thing and hold the line.
“As states have recognized it more and more, the health and well-being of a community depend on ensuring that everyone has access to health care. Immigrants pay billions of dollars in federal, state and local taxes, but many are excluded from critical health care programs, “she added. “The end of the state coverage for immigrants compromise our collective health, as well as the health care infrastructure that serves us all.”
Some progressives wondered if the movements were part of a broader strategy of the three governors to move to the right on the wider question of immigration, which The survey showed Still one of Trump’s strongest problems.
They said they could face their bases by deviating from positions on support for immigrant communities and widening health care.
“This feeds the conservative account that undocumented immigrants are drainage on our communities,” said Jennifer Driver, principal director of the Innovation Exchange State, a progressive legislative policy group. “This hypothesis that by moving more in the middle or to the right that you will recruit certain people – I think it is a calculation error.
“The frustration you see in the democratic base is due to this kind of waffle, this kind of idea that” ok, yes, we are progressive – but only at certain times “”, added Driver.
Other strategists have suggested that it remained too early to assess whether a broader change was at stake as governors and other legislators have placed themselves for potential offers from the White House 2028, and they stressed that the threats that the blue states are confronted with Trump are serious.
“The Trump administration is removing the hell of states,” said Jeff Blodgett, a Democrat Stratege based in Minnesota who was campaign director for the late Senator Paul Wellstone and state director of Barack Obama presidential campaigns. “There are just a lot of concerns about current and future budgets given what the federal government does to states.”