“What are you going to say — because I really hate immigrants?” she asked.
House Floor Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said providing health care to undocumented immigrants threatened to “blow a hole” in the budget, noting California and Illinois are considering rolling back similar programs.
“It will send the clear message to Minnesota taxpayers that taxpayer-funded benefits are not a reward for breaking federal immigration laws,” Niska said.
The legislation now goes to Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, who is expected to sign it because of a provision Republicans sought in the state budget that would defund the Minnesota Department of Health if the governor did not sign the bill to revoke coverage for undocumented immigrants.
“Republicans are saying (they) are so concerned about ripping away healthcare from a small number of Minnesotans, including pregnant women,” said Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, “that (they) would defund our entire Department of Health that impacts every single Minnesotan, their water, infectious diseases, lead in their pipes, all kinds of things that people depend on.”
Members of the People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus decried the legislation at a press conference just ahead of the vote. They said Democrats offered to enact a multitude of other Republican priorities — including modifications to paid family medical leave — to avoid stripping health care from undocumented immigrants, but Republicans wouldn’t budge.
