State lawmakers are debating legislation that will ban illegal alien adults from enrolling in MinnesotaCare, a state-run healthcare program for low-income individuals. According to a new KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, a majority of Minnesotans support this legislation.
In 2023, Democrats in control of state government passed a law which lets all illegal aliens sign up for MinnesotaCare. Since then, the number of illegal aliens enrolling in the program has exploded past initial projections, and Republican lawmakers have used their leverage in the evenly-split Minnesota House of Representatives to try to repeal this law.
Under a state budget deal agreed to by state leaders, adult illegal aliens will be barred from MinnesotaCare while illegal alien children will be allowed to stay on the program.
A recent poll from KSTP/SurveyUSA poll says a majority of Minnesotans support this ban. The poll, which was conducted between June 4 and June 7, collected responses from 590 registered Minnesota voters and had a 4.9% credibility interval.
According to the poll, 30% of respondents said illegal alien adults and illegal alien children should be barred from MinnesotaCare. Meanwhile, 23% said illegal alien adults should not be allowed on MinnesotaCare while illegal alien children should be permitted to enroll.
As such, a combined 53% believe that illegal alien adults should not be allowed to enroll in MinnesotaCare. Further, 70% of Republicans feel this way, as do 61% of independents.
Conversely, 35% of poll respondents said both groups should be allowed to remain on the state-run healthcare program while the remaining 12% were not sure how they felt about the issue.
At present, the Minnesota Legislature is in a special session to pass the final details of the state’s budget. Legislation banning illegal alien adults from enrolling in MinnesotaCare is expected to pass as part of an agreement struck by Gov. Tim Walz, House Speaker Lisa Demuth, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, and House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman.
Walz, Murphy, and Hortman, all Democrats, are opposed to the ban but agreed to it during negotiations with House Republicans who effectively have veto power over any legislation given the 67-67 tie in the Minnesota House.
In order to ensure the ban is not vetoed once it is sent to the governor, legislators placed a provision in the health omnibus bill that will entirely defund the Minnesota Department of Health if the governor vetoes legislation barring adult illegal aliens from MinnesotaCare.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
