Spending on migrant housing and health care has exploded in Democratic-controlled sanctuary states, costing taxpayers billions in places such as Illinois, California, and Massachusetts.
Recent audits have found that Illinois spent over $1.6 billion on health care for migrants through July 2024—far more than originally predicted.
While the Gov. J.B. Pritzker administration loves to harbor illegal immigrants, it comes at a hefty price tag to the state’s taxpayers. The budget for migrant care has seen massive cost overruns and a troubling lack of transparency, drawing criticism for prioritizing migrants over the needs of taxpayers.
Amid these findings of gross mismanagement, Pritzker is set to testify before Congress on Thursday, June 12, regarding the state’s immigration policies.
Illinois Policy Institute recently exposed how Pritzker will have spent over $2.5 billion by the end of 2025 to cover health care, housing and other costs for illegal migrants.
Illinois has allocated $478 million since 2023 for migrant benefits through the Welcoming with Dignity initiative. This program supports migrant welcome centers, housing, emergency food, resettlement services and rental assistance.
Those figures are even more shocking in Massachusetts, where Gov. Maura Healey’s administration has spent more than $700 million this fiscal year to house locals, families, and migrants in the state’s emergency shelter system, according to publicly available data reported by MassLive in April.
According to an investigation by Center for Immigration Studies in July 2024, taxpayers in Massachusetts had spent more than $1 billion on the emergency shelter system, largely overwhelmed by thousands of newly arrived migrants. State budget officials predicted another $1.8 billion for emergency shelters in the next two years.
And in California, the unfettered spending hit $22 billion back in 2022, according to a House Budget Committee report Don’t California My America: The Cost of California Policymaking.
California spends billions annually on illegal immigrants through programs like Medi-Cal and other social services. Meanwhile, the state’s Democratic leaders are currently defying the Trump administration’s ICE efforts and allowing Los Angeles to be trashed and overtaken by anti-ICE protestors.
Research done by the nonpartisan group Federation for American Immigration Reform, also known as FAIR, found that of all fifty states, California has spent the most on illegal immigrants. Texas is next in line, spending around $9 billion. Following Texas is Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.
Under Pritzker’s leadership, the state has spent the most on migrant health care, with migrant health benefits split between two programs. In 2023 alone, total costs outpaced expected spending by over $400 million, enough money to shelter Illinois’ entire homeless population for a year, according to Ravi Mishra, a policy researcher at Illinois Policy Institute.
Illinois created the Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors during the pandemic in 2020 to provide health care to those over the age of 65. The Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program, created in 2022, serves ages 42 to 64.
According to a recent audit, which compared state estimates versus actual expenditures for fiscal years 2021 to 2023, it was estimated the senior program would cost $224 million. Auditors found actual expenditures were 84% higher than expected at $412.3 million.
“The adult program overruns were even more dramatic,” Mishra noted.
The state estimated the cost around $126.4 million for the three-year period. Actual expenditures came to $485.3 million, nearly four times higher than expected.
The audit also found the state spent an additional $719 million for fiscal year 2024.
The state’s projection for migrant health care for fiscal year 2025 is $629 million, with $440 million coming out of the state’s general funds. But considering the state’s gross mismanagement, it could be much higher, Misha said.
Due to the current budget crisis, Illinois plans to end the adult migrant program on July 1, after it cost taxpayers well over $1 billion for the past four years. The senior program will continue and is projected to cost $110 million in fiscal year 2026 general funds.
“These overruns come as the state struggles to fund its budget, largely relying on gimmicks and one-time revenue to cover deficits,” Mishra said.
U.S. Rep. James Comer has criticized the governor’s sanctuary policies, accusing Pritzker of obstructing federal immigration enforcement. He’s also demanded explanations for prioritizing migrant spending over taxpayer concerns.
In Chicago and elsewhere, residents have flooded City Council meetings to put pressure on elected officials to address migrant crime, property tax hikes and other problems related to illegal immigrants being bussed to the sanctuary state.
