Illegal migrants reportedly escaping NYC to California could be eligible for numerous free benefits
Fox News
The four illegal migrants arrested and charged with violently attacking New York City police officers and released without bail have reportedly fled to California, a sanctuary state.
It’s unclear whether the Golden State will work with the state of New York to return the men to be prosecuted for their alleged crimes or whether the Department of Homeland Security will work to deport the individuals.
California law restricts state officers from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in deporting migrants. There are also numerous taxpayer-funded programs from which illegal migrants generally can benefit.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in January California would begin providing health care coverage to an additional 764,000 illegal immigrants on top of the 1.1 million already in the Medi-Cal system, California’s version of Medicaid.
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California has been incrementally adding illegal immigrants to the Medi-Cal program since 2015. That was the year it made undocumented children eligible. Four years later, it added adults 50 and older.
The expansion means illegal immigrants will also be eligible for hormone and sex-change surgeries subsidized by taxpayer dollars.
Nearly 700,000 illegal immigrants between the ages of 26 and 49 qualify, as of Jan. 1, for these federal health care services, which will cost California taxpayers an estimated $3.1 billion. For those living in California illegally within this age range, it translates to approximately $4,058 per year in medical coverage subsidies funded by the state’s general fund.
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Illegal immigrants can also pay in-state tuition and be eligible for financial aid for state schools.
CalFresh, the state’s federally funded food assistance program, expanded its eligibility requirements to include illegals age 55 and over to receive food benefits.
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California also has a program called Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), which is “a 100 percent state-funded program designed to provide monthly cash benefits to aged, blind, and disabled non-citizens who are ineligible for Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) solely due to their immigration status.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.
Four migrants caught and released after allegedly attacking two New York City police officers near Times Square have reportedly fled to California.
The New York Post, citing a law enforcement source, said authorities believe Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, and Yorman Reveron, 24, skipped town after the incident.
Police believe the foursome successfully got on a bus bound for California on Wednesday after giving fake names to a church-affiliated nonprofit group that helps migrants leave the Big Apple, the Post reported.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for New York’s Office of Court Administration said the office was unaware of the whereabouts of Arocha, Juarez, Reveron and Izquiel.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.