California Races to Sign Up as Many Illegal Aliens as Possible for Medi-Cal before 2026 Deadline
The quest for new Medi-Cal participants may prove difficult…as California’s immigration rates have plunged after the enormous success of the Trump administration’s border control efforts.
As we head into 2026, it appears that California is poised to begin the New Year with an $18 Billion debt and could easily be double that amount.
California will face a nearly $18 billion budget deficit in the new fiscal year due to higher than expected spending, despite an economic boon largely driven by AI enthusiasm and strong revenue, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said Wednesday.
To make things worse, the $17.7 billion shortfall could balloon to an annual $35 billion by fiscal year 2027-28, as spending continues to grow and debts come due, the office warned in its annual fiscal outlook.
As the next presidential election cycle looms, these numbers could prove difficult for Gov. Gavin Newsom to explain on the campaign trail. In an attempt to stem the fiscal bleeding, he is attempting to control the cash flow my cutting off some of the generous benefits given to illegal immigrants in the state.
As an added bonus, California’s deep blue bureaucrats are blaming President Donald Trump for forcing them into fiscal and constitutional responsibility.
Many illegal immigrants in California will become ineligible for Medi-Cal coverage in the new year, according to new guidance from state officials.
The Department of Health Care Services, which administers the state’s Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal, announced the move in August. The department stated on its website that immigrants with “unsatisfactory immigration status” will not be able to sign up for Medi-Cal on Jan. 1. That’s a reference to illegal immigrants.
“Federal cuts approved by Congress, Trump-era tariffs and ongoing attacks on our undocumented communities have created true fiscal strain for people in states like California,” said Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-San Luis Obispo and chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health.
“In response, the legislature acted to protect care by minimizing and postponing reductions in coverage,” Addis told The Center Square in an emailed statement on Tuesday. “The cost of the federal government’s erosion of healthcare is extremely high – both in tens of millions of dollars to our state and in real health consequences for Californians.”
Medi-Cal to stop accepting illegal immigrants as of Jan. 1https://t.co/pASDh43Af9
— The Center Square (@thecentersquare) December 24, 2025
Now the state bureaucrats are scrambling to sign-up as many illegal immigrants as it can before the January 1st deadline.
Every Friday for the past two months, nonprofit workers armed with iPads and clipboards have fanned out in South Los Angeles looking for immigrants living in the U.S. unlawfully. Their goal: Sign them up for the state’s Medicaid program before the end of the year.
The program, called Medi-Cal, will stop accepting adults with what the government calls “unsatisfactory” immigration status. Medi-Cal will require such immigrants who already are in the program to pay a $30 monthly premium to keep their health coverage starting in mid-2027.
It is a striking policy U-turn for Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who championed extending government-supported healthcare to all low-income Californians—regardless of their immigration status—as core to the state’s economic and moral identity.
“We are implementing our ideals,” Newsom said in a 2022 speech, adding that expanding access to preventive care would save money by diverting people from costly emergency- room visits.
People rushed into the program, and costs soared. Medi-Cal has played a role in deepening California’s budget hole.
⏳❄️ A Medi-Cal Freeze is Coming – What You Should Know
State cuts to Medi-Cal will end full-scope enrollment for undocumented immigrants 19+.🗓️ Take action by December 31 to make sure you and your family don’t get frozen out of lifesaving coverage.
👉 Learn more about the… pic.twitter.com/ZxYt3VBYqO
— Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (@LCHC_CA) December 24, 2025
The quest for new Medi-Cal participants may prove difficult…as California’s immigration rates have plunged after the enormous success of the Trump administration’s border control efforts.
The estimates, which mostly include immigrants accessing legal pathways and social services, indicate that President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict immigration are having profound effects on California’s population. From July 2024 to July 2025, the state grew by just 0.05%, compared to almost 0.6% over the previous yearlong period.
California has historically depended on immigration to counterbalance its population loss to other parts of the country. During Trump’s first term, his immigration policies contributed to California’s population decline, which experts said damaged the state’s economy and threatened its representation in Congress.
Personally, I am looking forward to the Trump Team’s auditors taking a look at California’s books. I am sure that the amount of fraud and corruption discovered will make Minnesota’s look trivial.
The waste and fraud in California is far beyond anything in Minnesota. It isn't even close. pic.twitter.com/pLR61gLywH
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) December 23, 2025
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Remember in the deep, dark, far past of last year when leftists were still lying that no illegal was eligible for programs like this?
No, I don’t remember them ever making that claim about state programs, such as this one. Only about federal programs.
“We are implementing our ideals,” Newsom said.
My ideals say that when you break the law you should be punished.
Your ideals are that when you break the law you get benefits I have to pay for.
We are not the same.
Your ideals are that when you break the law you get benefits I have to pay for.
We are not the same.
_________________________________________
exactly–show me the law/regulation/etc that says, absent some epic natural disaster, that folks here under the lone star are obligated in ANY fashion to bail-out CA, MN, etc from their colossal policy failures/deliberate fraud–those are man-made catastrophes–their “troubles” are on them and no one else
No laws or regulations, but plenty of badges and guns to follow orders, regardless of who issues them.
Just wait until the dems take power again. They’ll mandate the red states pay for the blue states fiscal bullschiff.
Hang this added deficit around Newsom’s and the Sacramento Dems’ necks. No excuses, no illegals, no Prop 50
And January 1st, Homeland Security needs to get a subpoena for those records and use them as a checklist.
San Andreas, hear my prayer…
☭ АLL HAIL CLOШARD AND PIVEИ ☭
One intermediate antidote to mitigate the damage is for Congress to block grant a set amount of program funding based on # of Citizens v ‘residents/inhabitants’. Preferably we shrink the Federal Gov and shift these boondoggle ‘Federal/State’ programs onto the States who create them. Any State administered/managed program receiving massive Federal $ must be audited, ineligible beneficiaries removed, the State employee or contracted company granting benefits to ineligible people fired and barred from future job/contacts administering any Federal $ and/or jailed depending on severity.
Perhaps ICE could set up street booths offering to sign up people for Medical? Getting the illegals to come to you would might be more efficient than searching for them.
Better yet conduct the Census using ICE/CBP to perform an actual enumeration door to door.
Oh, I like this idea so much.
Freedom, It stops when your freedom intersects with mine. California may do as it likes. But when my taxes must be used for California’s deficient, it stops.
Since voter records in many states are being examined, signing up illegals so they can vote (against the LAW) would provide a list of those who may choose to take DHS $3000 bonus to return home.
NONE of California’s elections are legitimate. Gray Davis was recalled for much less than this disaster.
How is someone undocumented and yet able to collect all kinds of welfare.
I know when I’ve tried to collect unemployment or even food stamps years ago when my family fell on hard times I had to have documentation for everything.
To channel Whoopi, they’re not actually DOCUMENT documents.
They’re Epson documents.
Illegal aliens aren’t actually “undocumented”. On the contrary, many of them have more documents than the average American. Some of these documents may even be their own!
Good one!
On a state level it’s like having somebody kick you in the testicles as many times as possible before the testicle-kicking period has expired. Why do something so stupid?
The only possible explanation for, “we need to piss money into this program as fast as possible before it gets shut down” is, “I get a cut.”
Catastrophic anthropogenic Immigration reform for labor arbitrage, Democrazic grift, reproductive replacement clinics, and other purposes.
https://californiaglobe.com/articles/gov-newsoms-free-healthcare-for-illegal-immigrants-drove-medi-cal-to-insolvency/
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