Millions of people around the world are fleeing poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, ignoring borders and breaking the law to invade rich countries. The United States is their number one destination.

America needs a strategy that limits the burden on Americans and protects our quality of life. Instead, Democrats are simply virtue-signaling, saying, “Welcome, take whatever we have.”
As of January 1, California provides Medi-Cal to approximately 760,000 undocumented immigrants of all ages. (Related: Betsy McCaughey: Your tax dollars are paying lawyers to invent more “rights” for immigrants)

California's health care system is I'm already nervous, emergency room wait times are long and there is a severe shortage of nurses. A lack of beds and mental health facilities has prevented local governments from getting thousands of drug-addicted homeless people off the streets and into treatment. The state faces a staggering $68 billion deficit.

But the left has chosen to spend money on immigrants rather than California itself, completely ignoring health care for local residents.

California Republicans warn that adding 760,000 undocumented immigrants to the state's health insurance rolls will worsen “access problems.” That means Californians will wait longer and settle for less care.

Don't think this madness is limited to one state.Oregon, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, Illinois, Washington, Massachusetts already covered It targets immigrants of a certain age group, and left-wing lawmakers are calling for it to be expanded to include all ages. The New York State Legislature narrowly passed the bill in June, but its term ended without passing.

In one blue state after another, Democrats are pushing to give immigrants taxpayer-funded health care. It's a knife in the back of hardworking Americans struggling to pay their medical bills. The country will also be doomed to a constant stream of strangers seeking government handouts.

Connecticut's Democratic-controlled Legislature is offering “baby bonds,” or taxpayer-funded funding, to all newborns eligible for the state's HUSKY public insurance program, including children of immigrants who entered the country illegally. They are implementing a very radical policy of offering savings accounts. Even if the immigrant parents arrive just days before the birth. Nest eggs are being built courtesy of taxpayers for the express purpose of “closing the wealth gap.”

The Democratic Party's enthusiasm for providing free health insurance to immigrants is extreme compared to what is happening around the world, even in countries with socialist tendencies.

In June, the Biden administration made the United States one of the few developed countries to sign the United Nations-sponsored Rabat Declaration, which declares that all immigrants should have access to the country's national health insurance program. Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and several other European countries that accept large numbers of immigrants did not sign.

Even socialist countries like Norway strictly limit immigration to emergency care and do not provide comprehensive health insurance. French President Emmanuel Macron's government is reassessing whether it can offer health benefits to migrants.

These countries understand what the US Democratic Party refuses to admit: that free health care is like a magnet.
Contrary to Vice President Kamala Harris' rhetoric, the flood of migrants crossing the southern border is not due to “root causes” that the United States can remedy with diplomacy or foreign aid. It's a worldwide phenomenon.

Many European and Scandinavian countries have adjusted their policies to protect their populations from undue burden. America is simply surrendering.

Providing health insurance also invites an influx of sick people from countries that cannot provide care. Venezuela's health system has collapsed. Hospitals there lack 80% to 90% of essential medicines, forcing sick people and their families to evacuate. Neighboring Brazil has reported a resurgence of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis A, whooping cough, diphtheria and measles due to the influx of Venezuelans in need of care.Similar problems are expected in the US

Promises of open borders, free food and hotel rooms, and free health care produce predictable results. Migrants crossing the U.S. southern border set yet another record in December.

As Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) commented on Newsom's health care policy, “Nothing is free and California taxpayers will have to pay for it.” She added, “That's treason. There's no other way to put it.”
At the very least, it's a betrayal.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chair of the Commission to Reduce Deaths from Infectious Diseases. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey.

To learn more about Betsy McCaughey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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