Newsom Grants Illegal Aliens $4.5 Million Worth of Defense Lawyers Despite Calif. Sanctuary State's $32 Billion Deficit
While facing a $32 billion budget deficit, California is increasing the money spent to hire lawyers for illegal immigrants.
On Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $4.5 million pilot program that gives free immigration legal assistance to farmworkers in the middle of state labor investigations.
Illegal immigrants who want legal help will get a case review, free legal advice and free representation by a lawyer.
Last week, California approved a budget to cover a $32 billion deficit, according to The Associated Press. The budget hole represents a stark turnaround for a state that recently had budget surpluses totaling $100 billion.
Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong warned that the budget has a very rosy picture of revenue that could mean storm clouds ahead.
“If revenues come closer to the independent legislative analyst’s projections and if a recession occurs, not only will the deficits be larger, they will consume most, if not all, of our reserves,” Fong said.
The news release extolling the virtues of free legal help for illegal immigrants said about half of California’s farm workers are “undocumented.”
“The fear of retaliation from bad actor employers, including the threat of deportation and difficulties obtaining other jobs without work authorization, is a common reason why many workers in the agriculture industry do not file labor claims or provide information as witnesses,” the release said.
“This new pilot program looks to prevent the exploitation of undocumented farmworkers by providing additional tools for California labor enforcement departments to help address workers’ fears of pursuing their rights due to their immigration status,” it said.
Last year, California started giving illegal immigrants taxpayer-funded health care benefits., according to Breitbart. The estimated cost of benefits for the state’s 3.3 million illegal immigrants is about $2.4 billion a year.
The Biden administration has indicated it wants to get in on that trend by giving Medicaid to individuals in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, something Republican members of the House Oversight Committee said they oppose.
Michigan GOP Rep. Lisa McClain, chairwoman of the panel’s subcommittee on health care and financial services, said the proposal is nothing more than another administration effort to perform an end run around the law, according to a news release Tuesday.
“Once again, Biden Administration officials are seeking to rewrite the laws through agency rulemaking because they know their policies are not supported by the American people and would not be able to pass in the House nor the Senate,” McClain said.
“Instead, they are proposing a rule with dubious legal basis to provide taxpayer-funded federal health benefits to individuals who have entered the country illegally,” she said, adding that “the Biden Administration’s proposal will incentivize future illegal immigration.
“The Biden Administration has chosen to prioritize illegal immigrants over the American people.”
Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri said the new rule would be too expensive, according to the Missouri Independent.
“At the end of the day, health care costs a lot of money,” Burlison said. “And this nation is nearly broke.”
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