By Sal Bommarito
Federal and state governments are poised to move quickly relating to the immigration crisis in the country. A proposal by California exemplifies how lawmakers are prone to act impetuously, and spend tax dollars irresponsibly in an effort to champion the needs of undocumented people for political purposes.
I discovered a disturbing article in the New York Times last week relating to health care of illegal aliens, something that Donald Trump has showcased since the beginning of his presidential campaign. The sum and substance of the story is that California is attempting to gain approval “that would allow undocumented immigrants to buy health insurance in the state’s public exchanges.”
California has about two million illegal aliens, 30 percent of which could be eligible for the aforementioned program. The U.S. Treasury and the Health and Human Resources Department must approve the proposal.
President Obama promised to exclude illegal aliens in 2013 from the Affordable Care Act. Coverage was supposed to be limited to those living legally in the U.S.
Supporters of the proposal have indicated that it should be approved with an “innovation waiver” because no federal money will be used to fund the program (Yeah sure.). This assurance is highly speculative at best. More later it later.
The platitudes are already swirling around the effort. Liberal California Democrats are saying, “health care is a human right, not a privilege.” Agreed, but who’s going to pay for it?
It should be noted that undocumented children are already able to obtain free health services through Medi-Cal.
No one should believe the premiums paid by illegals in California, or anywhere else, won’t be subsidized in one form of another. The people who have entered our country illegally over the years have done nothing more than drain resources from the system. And, why would illegals agree to pay full medical premiums into a system that subsidizes Americans? Obama was unable to convince healthy Americans to subsidize sickly Americans.
The real solution to the immigration problem should not be rounding up undocumented aliens and sending them back to their countries of origin, something that Trump has unwisely suggested. Before the U.S. spends any money for entitlements benefiting this group of people, our borders should be sealed (with or without a wall) and every illegal alien must be registered, pay taxes and abide by our laws. Any hesitation to do so ought to result in immediate deportation.
The point is that the U.S. should reform immigration before it spends any more money on illegals in the country, no matter how painful the process becomes.