Illinois taxpayers are set to be hit with a billion-dollar bill providing healthcare benefits to newly arrived illegal aliens in the state thanks to Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), according to estimates.
While tens of thousands of illegal aliens continue to be bused to the sanctuary city of Chicago, Illinois, from Texas, Republican lawmakers in the state are sounding the alarm over the economic and social burden that the new arrivals are set to impose on taxpayers.
Citing recent analysis from state officials, the lawmakers said taxpayers will be left holding the bill when nearly 110,000 additional illegal aliens sign up for taxpayer-subsidized healthcare benefits next year.
State Rep. Norine Hammond (R) said during a recent news conference on the issue that “dramatic growth” in Illinois’s illegal alien population and their enrollment for healthcare benefits “will require nearly a billion dollars in general revenue funds to support this program in Fiscal Year 2024.”
The program, which secures taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for older illegal aliens, was launched last year with help from Pritzker.
“From day one of my administration, equity has been — and will always be — our north star,” Pritzker said at the time. “Everyone, regardless of documentation status, deserves access to holistic healthcare coverage.”
Today, close to 700,000 illegal aliens live in the sanctuary state of Illinois.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.