LOS ANGELES: California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proposed eliminating free health care for undocumented migrants in what he said was an effort to balance a budget battered by Donald Trump’s erratic governance.
The move is the latest sign of political moderation from a man believed to have White House ambitions, who is looking to soften his image among conservative voters and dinstance himself from a reputation as a free-spending liberal helming a state where migration is out of control.
Newsom told a press conference that California should freeze admission to the public Medi-Cal program for undocumented people starting next year, and should charge those already enrolled $100 per month.
“We’re not cutting or rolling back those that enrolled in our medical system. We’re just capping it, particularly for those without documentation,” he said.
Almost 11 percent of the 15 million Medi-Cal recipients are undocumented, Newsom said.
In March, the California state legislature reported that opening Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants — which began in 2023 — had cost $2.7 billion more than expected in 2024.
The program’s costs have also been bloated by high drug prices, including a growing demand for weight control prescriptions.
Trimming eligibility for Medi-Cal and cutting back on drug availability could save the state approximately $5.4 billion over the coming years, Newsom’s office said.
He presented the idea as part of an overall plan to make up a $12 billion shortfall in California’s budget.
Newsom said the state’s financial situation was due in part to the impact of President Donald Trump’s volatile tariff policies, which have walloped California, the world’s fourth largest economy, and one that is heavily exposed to international trade and tourism.
The state’s revenues for the first 18 months of Trump’s presidency were expected to be $16 billion lower than they would have been without the volatility, a fall he dubbed the “Trump Slump.”
Economists say the US economy as a whole is expected to take a hit from the uncertainty generated by the sudden policy lurches from the White House, with business leaders unwilling to invest and consumers increasingly wary of spending.
California last month sued the Trump administration over the tariffs, saying the president did not have the ability to impose taxes on imports unilaterally, a power the lawsuit said rests only with Congress.
Wednesday’s announcement dovetails with Newsom’s push to present himself as a fiscally responsible alternative to Trump, while trying to keep pace with the national mood on immigration.
But he faces a tough balancing act in a state where a majority of voters support providing health care to undocumented migrants.
“California is under assault. The United States of America, in many respects, is under assault because we have a president that’s been reckless in terms of assaulting those growth engines,” he told reporters.
“It’s created a climate of deep uncertainty,” he added.
“This is a Trump Slump all across the United States, reflected in adjustments by every independent economist, by leading banks, by institutions.”
Local Republicans hit back Wednesday, characterizing the budget shortfall as Democratic Party overspending that disproportionately benefits migrants.
“I urged the governor to immediately freeze his reckless Medi-Cal expansion for illegal immigrants a year and a half ago, before it buried our health care system and bankrupted the state,” state Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said.
“With a massive deficit largely driven by this policy, our focus should be on preserving Medi-Cal for those it was originally designed to serve.”
Newsom’s proposal must now go to the state legislature for review.
Newsom floats cutting free health care for some migrants in California
https://arab.news/9xq8c
Newsom floats cutting free health care for some migrants in California
- Wednesday’s announcement dovetails with Newsom’s push to present himself as a fiscally responsible alternative to Trump, while trying to keep pace with the national mood on immigration
Will Afghanistan’s pledge against cross-border attacks ease tensions with Pakistan?
- Afghan clerics’ decree banned use of Afghan soil for cross-border attacks on Wednesday
- Latest heavy firing between Afghanistan, Pakistan killed at least 5 people
KABUL: As tensions flare up again between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Afghan leadership has moved to reaffirm its commitment against cross-border militancy this week in what is seen as Kabul’s attempt to move the needle on peace negotiations, after multiple rounds of talks failed to produce a lasting truce.
The neighboring countries have struggled to maintain a fragile ceasefire after border clashes killed dozens in October, the worst fighting since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.
While subsequent talks toward a permanent ceasefire yielded little progress, the temporary truce brokered by Qatar and Turkiye collapsed last Friday, with heavy firing along the Spin Boldak-Chaman border that killed at least five people.
Over the years Pakistan has put much of the blame for the border clashes on the government in Kabul allowing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — an outlawed armed group, which is separate from the Afghan Taliban — to use Afghan territory for cross-border attacks — a claim that Afghanistan has repeatedly denied.
Afghanistan again pledged to prevent its territory from being used to harm other countries on Thursday, with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi highlighting it as a religious duty, as endorsed just a day earlier by around 1,000 Afghan clerics in a fatwa, or religious decree.
“The fatwa was more political than religious,” Kabul University lecturer Abdullah Awwab told Arab News on Friday.
“I think it was a smooth way out of the pressure put on them by Pakistan and mediators, who were asking for a fatwa against the TTP. The emirate couldn’t issue that, so instead they had scholars issue a fatwa for ordinary Afghans, banning them from jihad abroad.
“The fatwa shows Pakistan that the Taliban can use a fatwa to stop Afghans from joining the war. It demonstrates Kabul’s power and control over its own soil and people — and, at the same time, it shows Pakistan’s weakness in needing to ask Kabul for a religious fatwa.”
Addressing new graduates at a ceremony in Kabul, Muttaqi said the Taliban had not “permitted anyone to carry out military activities in other countries” and that the government had the right to take action against anyone who violated the directive.
“The leaders and elders of this Islamic emirate have pledged that Afghan soil will not be used to harm anyone. All the scholars and religious leaders affirmed that obeying this commitment is necessary for all Muslims,” he said.
“Just as this nation has historically acted upon the fatwas and advice of its scholars, so too will (it) act upon them now. This is our shared duty.”
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special envoy to Afghanistan, said the decree was a “very significant” development.
“Hopefully, the TTP, which owes allegiance to the Taliban’s Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, will now submit to the collective wisdom of the Afghan Taliban ulema and surrender arms,” he wrote on X.
Though the decree answers one of Pakistan’s demands, Afghan political analyst Wasi Baheer said it had “no direct impact” in the conflict.
“Pakistan’s harsh words and threats to Kabul don’t mean much, because the real issue is inside Pakistan,” he told Arab News.
“They cannot simply force changes in Kabul. The main reason talks collapsed in Qatar, Istanbul, and Saudi Arabia is that Pakistan demanded the Taliban act harshly against the TTP — which makes no sense, because it is an internal Pakistani problem. Using force here in Afghanistan will not bring any relief to Pakistan’s security.”
