Sanctuary State California: Newsom Approves Taxpayer-Funded Health Benefits for Elderly Illegal Aliens

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), facing a looming recall election, has approved California health benefits for older illegal aliens, costing taxpayers at least $1.3 billion.

On Tuesday, Newsom signed AB 133 into law, opening the state’s Medi-Cal rolls to illegal aliens who are 50 years old and older which the governor’s office called “a major milestone in the state’s progress toward universal health coverage.”

An estimated 235,000 illegal alien residents in California who are 50 years old and older will now be eligible to take advantage of Medi-Cal benefits like preventive, long-term, and in-home supportive services.

“We’re investing California’s historic surplus to accomplish transformative changes we’ve long dreamed of — including this historic Medi-Cal expansion to ensure thousands of older undocumented Californians, many of whom have been serving on the front lines of the pandemic, can access critical health care services,” Newsom said.

In 2019, thanks to Newsom, California became the first state in the nation to open its taxpayer-funded health benefits to illegal aliens up to 26 years old.

California has an illegal alien population that exceeds three million.

As Breitbart News reported, blue states are spearheading initiatives across the nation that offer taxpayer-funded health benefits to illegal aliens. The policy is almost certain to drive illegal aliens with health issues to states like Illinois, California, and Oregon.

Already, taxpayers are forced to subsidize about $18.5 billion of yearly medical costs for illegal aliens living in the U.S., according to estimates by Chris Conover, formerly of the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research at Duke University.

When American voters were polled by CNN on the issue in July 2019, nearly 6-in-10 said they were opposed to forcing taxpayers to provide free health benefits to illegal aliens, including 63 percent of swing voters and 61 percent of self-described “moderates.”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.