A state audit found taxpayers in Gov. JB Pritzker’s (D) Illinois paid out a whopping $1.6 billion for healthcare programs for illegal immigrants since 2020.
The news comes after Republican legislators pushed for the audit to be released, Fox News reported on Friday.
In regard to the audit, state Senate Republican leader John Curran said it showed there has been rampant overspending.
“And it also showed that the governor was unable to manage this program. Thousands of people were allowed to sign up for free healthcare for years on the state taxpayer dime that should not have been eligible under the parameters laid out for this program, and the governor failed to even seek federal reimbursement when eligible on certain services for years, leaving federal dollars on the table,” he explained.
The audit also revealed some state money was spent on individuals who were citizens or eligible for federal programs.
In 2023, Pritzker halted a program offering taxpayer-subsidized health care benefits to illegals once he realized the high cost to taxpayers, Breitbart News reported in June of that year.
The outlet noted that Illinois Republicans had warned the program would cost taxpayers billions.
“This week, Pritzker announced he will now have to quasi-halt the program starting next month, keeping it in place only for a certain number of older illegal aliens, because the costs are too high for taxpayers to bear,” the report said.
Months later in October 2023, Breitbart News reported Pritzker diverted rental assistance money for struggling citizens and used it to house illegals.
In April, sanctuary states including Illinois planned to hand out billions in taxpayer funds to migrants by offering them housing, food, and health care as they poured into the country under now former President Joe Biden’s (D) watch, per Breitbart News.
Per the recent Fox article, “The auditor’s report, which Curran dubbed ‘gross mismanagement’ in a press conference, was released just one week after Pritzker suggested cutting funding for a program that offers Medicaid-like coverage to illegal immigrants under 65 or legal immigrants without a green card. The proposed reduction, expected to save $330 million, was a key part of Pritzker’s strategy to address a more than $3 billion budget shortfall.”