Trump vows to reclaim over $1B misused by states for illegal immigrant healthcare

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration plans to claw again greater than $1 billion in federal Medicaid {dollars} that blue states say are spent on well being look after unlawful immigrants, together with some with violent legal data for homicide and rape.

A preliminary audit by the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Providers discovered that California lately, particularly in 2024 and 2025; Washington, DC; Illinois; Washington; Colorado; and Oregon improperly spent a complete of $1,351,204,127 in federal Medicaid funds to assist pay for well being look after unlawful immigrants.

Though federal Medicaid {dollars} needs to be largely banned from overlaying well being look after unlawful immigrants, they can be utilized by states for emergency remedy no matter a affected person’s citizenship or immigration standing.

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States can even legally cowl medical health insurance for unlawful immigrants, so long as it’s executed solely with state tax {dollars}. However some consultants say Democrats are exploiting loopholes in federal legal guidelines that enable them to supply expanded well being advantages to unlawful immigrants.

“Defending Medicaid from waste, fraud and abuse shouldn’t be non-obligatory. It’s the regulation. Each greenback misspent on unlawful well being care expenditures is a greenback taken from weak People,” CMS spokesperson Emily Hilliard informed Fox Information Digital.

“Federal regulation prohibits the usage of Medicaid funds for unlawful immigrants, but a number of Democratic-led states have executed it anyway. The Trump Administration won’t tolerate this. CMS is conducting aggressive audits, recovering each greenback and holding states accountable.”

At some point after the present authorities shutdown, the Trump administration launched a memo arguing that Democrats need to repeal the Republican Celebration’s reforms within the “massive, stunning invoice” that aimed to shut alleged loopholes that allowed blue states to make use of federal {dollars} to pay for well being look after unlawful immigrants. (Getty/iStock)

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California was by far the largest wrongdoer, spending greater than $1 billion in federal Medicaid {dollars} on well being look after unlawful immigrants, in response to CMS. The subsequent greatest offender was Illinois, which CMS stated improperly spent almost $30 million, adopted by Oregon, which improperly spent about $5.5 million, in response to the audit.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s workplace has denied claims that his state is wrongly utilizing federal funds to pay for unlawful well being look after immigrants. The Republicans’ claims within the Los Angeles Occasions are “false.”

However Steve Hilton, a former Fox Information host and present Republican candidate operating to turn out to be California’s subsequent governor with Newsom’s term-limit, has argued that California has used a fancy Medicaid provision often known as a “supplier tax” to acquire matching federal {dollars}, that are then rolled into the cash utilized by the state to pay for well being care provided to undocumented immigrants.

Chris Pope, a public well being coverage professional on the Manhattan Institute, has argued that California is abusing federal provisions that enable states to make use of federal Medicaid {dollars} for emergency look after undocumented aliens.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California throughout a invoice signing relating to redrawing the state’s congressional maps, August 21, 2025, in Sacramento, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs)

Fox Information Digital reached out to Newsom’s workplace for touch upon this story however didn’t obtain a response.

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“Medicaid is by far the most important supply of federal funding for states. It was initially meant to supply aid solely to eligible beneficiaries, however over time states have found find out how to sport the system, padding licensed bills and diverting earnings to fund actions which can be supposedly prohibited,” Pope stated.

“Any declare that state well being care spending doesn’t finally contain some type of federal funding needs to be seen with suspicion.”

Jim O’Neill, the present performing director of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and assistant secretary on the Division of Well being and Human Providers, has additionally identified that of federal funds improperly going to unlawful immigrants, some even go to unlawful immigrants with violent legal histories. O’Neill has been posting a each day “MorningMedicaidMugshot” of examples for the previous few days.

Federal brokers detain an individual after attending a courtroom listening to on the Jacob Ok. Javitz Federal Constructing on July 1, 2025 in New York Metropolis. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)

On October 29, O’Neill highlighted Layth Kamil, a 24-year-old unlawful alien from Iraq, convicted of exposing himself to a 15-year-old, who O’Neill stated acquired almost $16,000 in taxpayer-funded well being care by Medicaid. The day earlier than, O’Neill highlighted the story of Haissam Massalkhy, a 45-year-old unlawful alien from Lebanon, convicted after driving underneath the affect and killing an American citizen who was jogging. Massalkhy acquired greater than $30,000, in response to O’Neill.

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Different unlawful aliens O’Neill highlighted included folks convicted of tried homicide and little one rape.

“Democrats are demanding continued Medicaid funding for this violent unlawful alien as a situation of reopening the federal government and paying the hardworking public servants in my division,” O’Neill complained in one in all his current “MorningMedicaidMugshot” posts.