Immigrants fear losing health care if Minnesota legislators revoke access

Micaela has spent three decades tirelessly cleaning houses, working as a clerk and now owns a shop in the Twin Cities that she tends to seven days a week, closing only on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

But those efforts have left telltale signs on her body. She struggles to walk because of debilitating knee pain brought on by years of grueling cleaning work she performed when she first arrived from Mexico. Micaela’s daughter, Isis, helps her to and from the car, stocks the shelves and escorts her to the bathroom.

Micaela, who gave only her first name because she is undocumented, was hopeful she could finally get treatment when Minnesota opened its state health insurance for low-income residents to undocumented immigrants. She has an appointment scheduled for her knee next month.

Now, Micaela isn’t sure she’ll be able to get surgery as the state weighs revoking coverage for her and thousands of fellow immigrants under a budget deal struck by state lawmakers in St. Paul. She said she’s leaning on her faith for support.

“God knows what we can do at this point,” Micaela said via translator. “We just – we’re at His mercy.”

With the governor’s office and Legislature controlled by Democrats in 2023, MinnesotaCare was opened to undocumented immigrants, but since the program began in January, enrollment has far exceeded expectations.

The state had projected about 5,800 people to sign-up by the end of March, but more than 17,000 entered the program. By the end of April, enrollments topped 20,000.

Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders struck a budget agreement this month that would remove undocumented adults from MinnesotaCare but allow children to remain on the program. Approximately one-quarter of enrollees are minors, according to the state.

The deal, which the Legislature has not yet approved, ignited a backlash among progressive lawmakers and immigrant advocacy groups. In the two weeks since it was announced, protesters at the Capitol have shamed Walz and legislative leaders and accused them of abandoning immigrants.

Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis, criticized Republicans, who made rolling back MinnesotaCare for undocumented immigrants a priority during this legislative session.

“It is especially sad that they have injected into the conversation that some people must simply be left to die because their costs are too expensive,” Agbaje said at a news conference at the Capitol.

Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, said the coverage costs are too great and the state shouldn’t “incentivize illegal immigration” by providing benefits like MinnesotaCare.

Rasmusson noted that Illinois and California are scaling back coverage or pausing enrollment in health plans for undocumented immigrants because of the costs.

“It’s actually quite unusual to have a broad-based, taxpayer-funded health care benefit for illegal immigrants,” he said, “and in the states that have tried it, it hasn’t worked.”

When Micaela first came to the U.S., she said, employers often required her to scrub floors on her hands and knees. After a while, the physical demands of the work took their toll on her joints.

“There’s not a single day or minute that she doesn’t pass with pain,” her daughter Isis said through a translator.

When Micaela’s not at work, she’s resting to prepare herself for another day.

Sitting behind the counter of her store, which sells probiotics and other items, Micaela said she doesn’t like to ask for handouts.

“It gives us shame to even think about being supported by government,” she said, “but the thing is, I haven’t asked for anything at this point, and I pay for taxes when I run my business.”

“Everything I’ve done, I still can’t afford to even cover my surgeries,” she added.

Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez’s father also faces the possibility of losing his health insurance as he undergoes treatment for cancer.

Chavez spoke about his father’s diagnosis in a news conference at the Capitol this month. He had been keeping the illness relatively private, he said in an interview, but decided to go public in the hope “someone would think about not stripping health care away from our most vulnerable community members.”

Chavez said his father did not want to be interviewed.

Chavez joined Agbaje and other lawmakers in the People of Color and Indigenous, or POCI, Caucus at the Capitol to urge their colleagues to protect MinnesotaCare.

He criticized Democratic legislative leaders for using health care “as a bargaining chip to balance a budget.” He said Democrats’ top priority had been protecting health care access “for all Minnesotans.”

“I’m disappointed that that isn’t a priority anymore,” Chavez said.

On social media, he said he was “extremely disappointed” that Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, signed off on the deal given Democrats control the Senate by a one-vote majority.

POCI Caucus members pounded on the door of the governor’s reception room as Walz, Murphy and House leaders announced the budget deal, accusing them of “killing our communities.”

Faith groups have held news conferences at the Capitol and read stories of immigrants like Micaela hoping to sway lawmakers.

Among them was an account of a factory worker in southern Minnesota who lost a foot to diabetes she couldn’t consistently manage, said Melissa Gonzalez, a pastor at Tapestry in Richfield. Now on MinnesotaCare, she said, the woman has access to insulin and regular doctor’s appointments.

Murphy and House Democratic Leader Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, have said the budget decision was difficult.

“I’m not at all surprised that this is the response,” Murphy said as DFL lawmakers and others pounded on the door two weeks ago.

With a tied House and a razor-thin Democratic majority in the Senate, legislative leaders are struggling to put together a budget. Lawmakers adjourned May 19 without an agreement, and with each passing week, a potential partial government shutdown draws closer.

Whether to end MinnesotaCare for people like Micaela has proved among the most contentious issues at the Capitol and could make it difficult for leaders to get DFL votes for a budget deal without health care for immigrants.

Rep. Jeff Backer, R-Browns Valley, who volunteers as an emergency medical technician, said he feels compassion for those who need access to health care. But he said lawmakers must ensure the system is solvent to serve “law-abiding Minnesotans.”

Backer, co-chair of the House Health Finance and Policy Committee, said he has to “look at the whole ecosystem of our health care system.”