California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been steadily tacking right in what many see as a bid to court centrist voters ahead of a likely 2028 presidential run, now wants to end new enrollment for low-income undocumented immigrants in the state’s Medi-Cal health insurance program starting in January 2026. He also proposes that beginning in 2027, those already enrolled in the mostly free program would have to start paying $100 a month.
Newsom is pitching it as fiscal prudence—a move that’s necessary to help close California’s gaping budget deficit. But in doing so, he’s gutting a policy he once hailed as a cornerstone of his progressive legacy: free health care for all Californians, regardless of immigration status. The effort just expanded statewide in January 2024. Now, he’s yanking it back.
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The proposed change would save the state $5.4 billion by 2028, according to Newsom’s office, part of a broader plan to chip away at a $16 billion deficit caused by a turbulent economy and higher-than-projected costs. But it also undercuts what he claimed to be a moral commitment: that health care is a human right, period. Instead, he’s making the same cold calculations that conservatives have pushed for years, handing them a win and gutting a pillar of his own progressive brand.
Under the proposal, adults over age 19 would be barred from signing up, though kids and teens could still qualify. Newsom’s office insists no one will be “kicked off” Medi-Cal—but those already enrolled would be hit with monthly premiums. Emergency and pregnancy-related care would still be covered through limited-scope federal programs. But without buying in, undocumented Californians would lose access to basic coverage like doctor visits and prescription drugs.
It’s a jarring reversal—but not an unpredictable one, as Newsom has been distancing himself from his progressive image for months. On his podcast, he’s parroted right-wing rhetoric around trans students (suggesting Democrats went too far—they didn’t), sat down for a baffling chat with Steve Bannon, and recently embarrassed himself by groveling to President Donald Trump for a $7.5 billion federal tax credit for films after Trump threatened Hollywood with massive tariffs.
One minute he’s blaming “the Trump slump” for the state’s financial mess; the next, he’s trying to make deals with him. It’s incoherent—and worse, it’s cowardly.
To be clear, Trump bears responsibility here. His administration is using federal pressure to get blue states to cut benefits for undocumented people.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem didn’t mince words on Tuesday when announcing that her agency is investigating California for allegedly “providing federal benefits to illegal aliens.”
“If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over,” she said in a predictably dramatic statement. But Newsom didn’t have to play along.
He’s not just undermining his legacy—he’s breaking with his party. Politico reported that Democrats in the California Legislature have already said they oppose the cuts. They, not Newsom, control the final budget. And polling shows Californians generally support covering undocumented immigrants.
An April Politico–UC Berkeley survey found 53% of voters still support coverage for undocumented immigrants, including 21% who said the state should keep offering it even if it means cutting elsewhere.
The idea that undocumented people should be denied basic care during a cost-of-living crisis is ugly enough coming from the right. Coming from Newsom, it’s a betrayal.
And it’s shortsighted. For years, Democrats argued that it’s both more humane and cheaper to cover undocumented residents rather than force them into emergency rooms for preventable and costly conditions. That logic didn’t change. But Newsom has.
What we’re seeing here isn’t leadership: it’s positioning. Newsom is floating a test balloon for 2028. And if he thinks this is how he wins the center, he should prepare to lose the base he once built his name on.
The California governor didn’t just backtrack: He buckled. Trump lit the fire, but Newsom is helping to fan the flames.