A study indicating that half of California’s illegal aliens are poor enough to qualify for a proposed Medicaid expansion undermines claims by Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio suggesting legalizing them brings economic benefits.
Neither Bush, Florida’s former governor, nor Rubio, Florida’s junior U.S. senator, has endorsed the California proposal. It would allow people in the country illegally to participate in the California’s health program for the poor.
Neither campaign responded to inquiries from LifeZette.
But both men have argued in the past that greater immigration strengthens the American economy. In January, shortly before kicking off his 2016 campaign, Bush told a conference of auto dealers in San Francisco that legalizing illegals would be great for the economy.
“Immigrants are an engine of economic vitality,” he said, referring to illegal immigrants. “We need to find a way, a path to legalized status for those that have come here and have languished in the shadows.”
Bush made a similar argument in June 2013 at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference.
“Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans, over the last 20 years,” he said. “Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity.”
Rubio, whose recent attempts to finesse the issue have drawn skepticism from his opponents, has made a more nuanced case. He argues that his plan to “modernize” the immigration system would pay economic dividends. Rubio was also the author of the 2013 Gang of Eight amnesty bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.
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Both Rubio and Bush have rejected calls for widespread deportation of “law-abiding” illegal aliens. There are more than 11 million in the United States.
The Golden State study, released by the Public Policy Institute of California, suggests that legalizing aliens would not create the “economic engine” that Bush envisions, or supply the desirable labor pool that Rubio advocates.
The study found that 51 percent of the roughly 2.6 million illegals in California would meet the income eligibility criteria for Medi-Cal — less than $16,243 for an individual, $21,984 for a couple, or $33,500 for a family of four.
Some Democrats have proposed authorizing California to seek a waiver from the federal government allowing illegal immigrants to obtain insurance on health exchange under the Affordable Care Act.
Some Democratic legislators have proposed authorizing California to seek a waiver from the federal government allowing illegal immigrants to obtain insurance on health exchange under the Affordable Care Act. Federal law would prohibit them from receiving government subsidies, and the institute estimates that many of the immigrants could not afford the insurance without the assistance.
If immigration-reform advocates were to succeed in granting legal status to that population, however, the immigrants would be eligible for subsidies up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line. The report says only 3 percent of illegal immigrants in California earn too much money to qualify for support.
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The findings are no surprise to researchers who study immigrant use of government-assistance programs. Immigrants are poorer and less educated than the American population as a whole, and therefore make heavier use of government assistance programs.
A September report by the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies showed more than half of all immigrant households nationwide in 2012 used at least one government program and exceeded usage rates of native-born Americans at all education levels.
Steven Camarota, who wrote the study, said the heaviest users were immigrants without a high school diploma.
Granting legal status would make previously illegal immigrants eligible for more benefits but would do nothing to improve their education or skills, Camarota said.
“It’s worth remembering that legalizing people is not going to solve the fiscal problem,” he said. “It almost certainly makes it worse.”
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