Sacramento - One of the many characteristics that separate California from other states is weaving undocumented immigrants into our communities.

Their economic impact is obvious and it will be difficult for Golden State to maintain our position as the financial capacity of the world without a labor force.

But most Californians know and are happy with reality, at least some of our neighbors, our children’s classmates, our colleagues have no legal documents, or a mixed state family.

Gov. Gavin Newsom made a stand on undocumented Californians who seemed to have largely lost their attention, but it could be a big battle between Congress and the court. Newsom, in his news-filled budget introduction, is committed to retaining state-funded health insurance for undocumented residents (launched, deep, I will get). While some were disappointed with his rollback, many of them would attack citizens and non-citizens, the expansion of California masked the claim that all low-income people are values.

“We provide more support than any state in U.S. history and we will continue to provide more support than any state in U.S. history,” he said.

Keeping up with this promise will be difficult and may be costly.

The decision comes as Congress considers a Trump-led budget bill that would severely punish the nation (14 of which) for continuing to provide health insurance for undocumented immigrants. Of course, California has the most of these people in its MEDI-CAL program, and if the fines do indeed become the new law, it will be the biggest blow - in six years, the amount will reach $27 billion in six years, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

From a perspective, the Governor now estimates that the budget is short of nearly $1.2 billion this year. Once our fees are met, federal cuts will add at least $3 billion a year.

Newsom said such federal cuts were "unpredicted in the budget", meaning we're ignoring it for the time being.

The federal program is not open to non-citizens and does not use federal funds to support California healthcare expansion to undocumented people.

But Congress threatens to cut reimbursement by about 10% to ensure that the Medicaid expansion is part of the Affordable Care Act to ensure undocumented people. This expansion gives millions of Americans access to health care.

These expansion funds operate in ways that many people don’t know. For example, as Newsom notes, behavioral health teams advocating homeless people is funded by Medicaid funds.

Overall, about one-third of Californians rely on Medi-Cal, including millions of children, so this threat of cutting federal funds is not a vacant one, especially in the thin years.

Katherine Hempstead, a senior policy adviser for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the bill debated in Congress was so full of health care cuts that it argued that a judgment on undocumented coverage of undocumented coverage may not be a priority for most Democrats — making the cut so likely that it could pass.

"I don't know if this will become a problem for a Dick," she said.

Indeed, Republicans are under pressure to kill undocumented people altogether.

“Governor Newsom only partially abolished his disastrous policy,” Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) said in a statement. “It needs to be completely reversed or Californians will continue to spend billions of illegal immigration coverage, and our state will lose more Medicaid funds.”

Newsom gives the economic reason, which is to uphold the state's coverage for all low-income residents regardless of their status. When people don’t have access to routine care, they end up in the emergency room, which is very expensive. And, Medicaid must cover emergency rooms, so taxpayers often spend more money by browsing pre-care in the long run.

“It’s absolutely important for people who get coverage because they really don’t have any other options,” Hempstead said.

But the care is much more expensive than California expected, which is also a multi-billion dollar surprise, partly because there are many people signing.

To many people’s frustration, Newsom’s budget reflects recent economic hardships—a $16 billion in revenue for his “Trump down” and the cost of the state covering those undocumented is greatly reduced.

If the legislature is related to Newsom's plan, or even part of it, the shortage could force undocumented people to qualify for a cut in coverage.

Most notably, it will be registered with undocumented adults aged 19 and over 19 years old in 2026, effectively closing new participants’ programs. That was a huge injury. His plan also calls for an additional $100 per month premium, as well as other cuts, such as providing end coverage of extremely popular and expensive GLP-1 weight loss medications for all participants.

"I don't want to take this position, but we're in that position," Newsom said.

Amanda McAllister-Wallner, executive director of California Health Visit, called the cuts “recky and tobleable” in a statement.

“It is a betrayal of the governor’s commitment to California immigration and a abandonment of his legacy, which brings California so close to universal health care,” she said.

I strongly believe in universal single payer healthcare (basically open healthcare to everyone), so I disagree with McAllister-Wallner. On better days, I would like to see enrollment reopen and benefits reinstated.

But we are bankrupt, too. This will be a painful choice for all participants.

This makes Newsom and California’s commitment to keeping insurance for undocumented people. The state may retreat under this real federal pressure and can try to find a way to undermine the benefits we have already given.

But providing health care to our undocumented residents is a moral component of our country.

While the financial reality is ugly, it is worth remembering that California insists on using its most vulnerable residents when it comes to providing coverage, which is when it is easier to cut and run.