California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been steadily tacking proper in what many see as a bid to courtroom centrist voters forward of a possible 2028 presidential run, now desires to finish new enrollment for low-income undocumented immigrants within the state’s Medi-Cal medical insurance program beginning in January 2026. He additionally proposes that starting in 2027, these already enrolled within the largely free program must begin paying $100 a month.
Newsom is pitching it as fiscal prudence—a transfer that’s essential to assist shut California’s gaping finances deficit. However in doing so, he’s gutting a coverage he as soon as hailed as a cornerstone of his progressive legacy: free well being take care of all Californians, no matter immigration standing. The hassle simply expanded statewide in January 2024. Now, he’s yanking it again.
Associated |What the hell is Gavin Newsom making an attempt to do?
The proposed change would save the state $5.4 billion by 2028, in accordance with Newsom’s workplace, a part of a broader plan to chip away at a $16 billion deficit brought on by a turbulent economic system and higher-than-projected prices. Nevertheless it additionally undercuts what he claimed to be an ethical dedication: that well being care is a human proper, interval. As an alternative, he’s making the identical chilly calculations that conservatives have pushed for years, handing them a win and gutting a pillar of his personal progressive model.
Below the proposal, adults over age 19 can be barred from signing up, although youngsters and youths might nonetheless qualify. Newsom’s workplace insists nobody shall be “kicked off” Medi-Cal—however these already enrolled can be hit with month-to-month premiums. Emergency and pregnancy-related care would nonetheless be coated by limited-scope federal applications. However with out shopping for in, undocumented Californians would lose entry to primary protection like physician visits and pharmaceuticals.
It’s a jarring reversal—however not an unpredictable one, as Newsom has been distancing himself from his progressive picture for months. On his podcast, he’s parroted right-wing rhetoric round trans college students (suggesting Democrats went too far—they didn’t), sat down for a baffling chat with Steve Bannon, and not too long ago embarrassed himself by groveling to President Donald Trump for a $7.5 billion federal tax credit score for movies after Trump threatened Hollywood with huge tariffs.
One minute he’s blaming “the Trump slump” for the state’s monetary mess; the following, he’s making an attempt to make offers with him. It’s incoherent—and worse, it’s cowardly.
To be clear, Trump bears accountability right here. His administration is utilizing federal stress to get blue states to chop advantages for undocumented individuals.
Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem didn’t mince phrases on Tuesday when asserting that her company is investigating California for allegedly “providing federal benefits to illegal aliens.”
“If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over,” she stated in a predictably dramatic assertion. However Newsom didn’t must play alongside.
He’s not simply undermining his legacy—he’s breaking along with his get together. Politico reported that Democrats within the California Legislature have already stated they oppose the cuts. They, not Newsom, management the ultimate finances. And polling reveals Californians usually assist overlaying undocumented immigrants.
An April Politico–UC Berkeley survey discovered 53% of voters nonetheless assist protection for undocumented immigrants, together with 21% who stated the state ought to maintain providing it even when it means slicing elsewhere.
The concept undocumented individuals needs to be denied primary care throughout a cost-of-living disaster is ugly sufficient coming from the suitable. Coming from Newsom, it’s a betrayal.
And it’s shortsighted. For years, Democrats argued that it’s each extra humane and cheaper to cowl undocumented residents quite than pressure them into emergency rooms for preventable and dear circumstances. That logic didn’t change. However Newsom has.
What we’re seeing right here isn’t management: it’s positioning. Newsom is floating a check balloon for 2028. And if he thinks that is how he wins the middle, he ought to put together to lose the bottom he as soon as constructed his identify on.
The California governor didn’t simply backtrack: He buckled. Trump lit the fireplace, however Newsom helps to fan the flames.
