California Dems restore free health care in unconstitutional hours after warning of very high costs
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Every Democrat asked during this week's gubernatorial debate in California said they supported providing health care to illegal immigrants, a position they briefly took after the candidates spent a few minutes warning that California's health care system is already too expensive and a strain on families, businesses and the state budget.
“We had a broken immigration system, and now you want to torture the people who work here and make the state run,” said Democratic businessman and billionaire Tom Steyer when asked if he supported the immigration crackdown after California's current governor, Gavin Newsom, cut it to help reduce the state's ballooning deficit.
Former California congresswoman and fellow Democrat for governor of California, Katie Porter, was bluntly asked about cost concerns related to providing illegal immigrants with free health care.
LEGAL CARE COSTS LEGAL CARE BLUE STIGGERS IN BUDGET SPEECH
Democratic candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, Democratic candidate Katie Porter, Democrat Tom Steyer, Democrat Steve Hilton, Republican candidate Chad Bianco and Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra participate in a California gubernatorial debate at the East Los Angeles College Auditorium in Monterey Park, California, on May 5, 2026. The seven candidates for California governor on 2 June 2026. 2026 primary election. (Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)
“We can't have people who are sick, making us all sick,” Porter said in response to a question about spending before his Republican opponent, Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County, interjected “they shouldn't be here,” prompting Porter to pause and give him a confused look.
“If anyone doesn't have care, we're all at risk if people don't get vaccines,” Porter continued. “If they don't go to the doctor, they end up in the emergency room. They create long lines for all of us. They make our health care system — they push it over the edge.”
“Immigrants, whether documented or not, work hard. They pay taxes and sometimes they get hurt on the job or their children get sick,” said former Secretary of Health and Human Services of Biden Xavier Becerra when asked if he supports the measure.
NEWSOM SIGNS $2.8B PAYMENT FOR HEALTH CARE PLAN PASSING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.
The Trump administration is increasing efforts to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving public health benefits. (Getty/iStock)
“It would be foolish to tell a family that they can't access a pediatrician or a family doctor, or they can't use a community health center where it won't cost us that much money to provide them with access to health care,” continued Becerra. “Instead, what's going to happen is that that child is going to be so sick that they have to take that child to the hospital. And what department does it go into? The most expensive department in the health care system? The emergency room department. Why do that and spend so much money when you can do it before?”
The remaining Democratic Party candidates on the stage, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, were not asked directly if they supported providing health care to illegal immigrants in the state, and they did not indicate their position on other parts of the debate that discussed health care.
“The real way we deal with health care in this state is to at least stop spending $20 billion a year on free health care for illegal immigrants who shouldn't even be in the country in the first place,” Republican candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton said amid a debate about how to reform the state's health care system.
LAWYERS SAY THAT AMERICAN PEOPLE SHOULD LEGALLY TAKE THE MEDICAID TABLE FOR FAMILIES.
Xavier Becerra, left, and Steve Hilton participate in a California gubernatorial candidate debate Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Laure Andrillon)
“When are we going to draw the line at any other crime? It's illegal. They're coming into the country illegally, we're not going to encourage them to come here to take a lot of services that ordinary Californians don't get,” Bianco said.
Before protecting access to taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants, Democratic candidates were locked in a battle over who committed the most to government-run health care.
Steyer said he supports single-payer “absolutely,” while Becerra said California should “try to get Medicare for the whole system.” Porter repeatedly pressed Becerra to be more specific, asking if he supported “California having its own state-run single-payer system.”
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But the push for expanded coverage came as candidates acknowledged the cost crisis. Steyer said health care is “eating up our budget” and “eating up every single family,” and Villaraigosa warned that a state-run single-payer plan would cost about $500 billion and require federal approval.
“It's pie in the sky,” Villaraigosa said.
