Minnesota lawmaker, activists concerned about legislation targeting undocumented immigrants

Amid a climate of anti-immigration rhetoric and policies from the White House, GOP lawmakers in the Minnesota Legislature are proposing legislation that would bar undocumented residents from accessing state-funded programs like MinnesotaCare.

House File 10, authored by Rep. Isaac Schultz, R-Elmdale Township, would prohibit undocumented Minnesotans from accessing any state program funded by taxpayers that requires proof of residency. The bill would also make undocumented residents ineligible for the state’s free college tuition program called North Star Promise, and would require U.S. citizenship to access MinnesotaCare, a state-funded health care program for low-income residents. MinnesotaCare and North Star Promise are the only programs specifically named in the bill, which would apply more broadly.

Though activists and lawmakers of color recognize that the legislation has a low chance of passing, they say it amplifies the anti-immigrant sentiment that has been pervasive since President Donald Trump’s victory, and could have a chilling effect on these communities’ willingness to access services.

“It’s political theater, honestly,” said Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis. “It’s for them [lawmakers] to send a message about immigrants, and I think it’s wrong.”

The bill is one of several introduced by Minnesota Republican lawmakers this session aimed at undocumented residents: One would make undocumented immigrants ineligible for any college financial aid, and another would make them ineligible for early release from prison.

The effort mirrors the anti-immigrant agenda of Trump’s administration, which has increased detentions and deportation proceedings since Trump took office less than two months ago.

Schultz did not respond to requests for comment about House File 10. The author of the Senate companion bill, Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, said through a spokesperson that he was unavailable for comment.

Schultz argued to the House Health Finance and Policy Committee last month that the bill would save the state $100 million and help prevent fraud.

“Far too often, Minnesotans today are seeing their tax dollars go to folks who are here illegally in public programs like MinnesotaCare which are becoming magnets for people from foreign countries,” he said. “Now is the time for us to address these eligibility requirements — which were only changed just two years ago — so that we together can stop the waste, fraud and abuse of our tax dollars.”

MinnesotaCare was created in 1992 to help provide health care to people who can’t afford it. It was previously only available to citizens and permanent residents, but the DFL-controlled Legislature passed the MinnesotaCare Immigrant Inclusion Act in 2023, expanding eligibility to undocumented residents. The program now covers around 83,000 people.

MinnesotaCare covers a wide range of routine and preventive care such as eye and dental exams, X-rays, lab tests, physical exams, prescription costs, immunizations and pregnancy care, among many other services.

The program also helps enrollees pay for specialty care like surgeries, rehabilitation and gender-affirming care, in addition to ambulance services and visits to the emergency room.

“There is a clear understanding that these folks pay taxes in our state so they should be getting the benefits of the tax dollars that they’re paying,” said Mohamed, who was part of the expansion effort. “What we did was not something that was abnormal.”

Schultz and Rasmusson’s proposed bill would reverse that progress, said Luis Argueta, communications strategist for Unidos MN, an immigrant advocacy group.

“It would be devastating to these Minnesotans that have started experiencing what it is to have access to preventive care for the first time in years,” he said, adding that all Minnesotans benefit from expanded health coverage because it reduces wait times in hospital.

The bill and others like it amplify harmful rhetoric about undocumented immigrants, Argueta said. There are an estimated 81,000 unauthorized immigrants in Minnesota, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

The bill was introduced before Tuesday’s special election to fill a vacant seat in House District 40B; Republicans still had a one-seat majority in the House at the time. The temporary power-sharing agreement between DFLers and the GOP allowed for Republican lawmakers to chair all committees until the seat was filled, giving them the power to give the bill committee hearings this session.

Since the DFL candidate won the special election, the House returned to a 67-67 tie. Each committee will have co-chairs with equal representation from both parties. Republicans did not have the votes to pass the bill, even if it had made it to the floor, and if had passed in the House, the bill would not have received a hearing in the DFL-controlled Senate, Mohamed said.

Mohamed, chair of the Senate People of Color and Indigenous Caucus, said despite low odds of the bill becoming law, its introduction is an attack on the state’s immigrant communities.

“They’re sending a clear message to Minnesotans,” she said, “that they don’t value immigrants.”

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This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for a free newsletter to receive Sahan’s stories in your inbox.