According to Customs and Border Protection data, apprehensions of illegal aliens have nearly tripled since 2019. These illegal aliens are people who oftentimes have serious medical needs, but have little to no financial resources. Illegal immigration burdens state Medicaid programs and uses up charities at an unsustainable pace.

Illegal immigration adds billions of dollars in unpaid medical bills to a medical system that's already falling apart

Every year, tens of thousands of illegal immigrants flood U.S. hospitals, looking for treatment for infectious diseases, chronic diseases and disabilities. In fact, American hospitals as a whole are losing multiple billions of dollars annually because of unpaid medical bills coming directly from illegal immigrants. These unpaid medical bills drive up the overall cost of healthcare – a cost that ultimately gets passed on to Americans, who can barely afford healthcare as it is.

According to a new report from the House Committee on Homeland Security, the United States spends $451 billion annually due to the invasion at the U.S. border. The report finds that a significant portion of these annual costs are due to unpaid healthcare for illegal immigrants.

Most illegal immigrants lack medical insurance and depend on hospital discounts, private charities and government welfare programs. State Medicaid programs are absorbing unanticipated costs that only drive up the cost of health insurance premiums and deductibles for Americans. For example, Denver Health served approximately 8,000 illegal immigrants in 2023. These illegals made roughly 20,000 visits to the city's health system that year. If the illegals qualify for Medicaid, they are more prone to use the system more often for minor issues. This makes it harder for Americans to get appointments and contributes to longer wait times at hospitals. The American medical system and the welfare programs that accompany it were not designed to absorb the influx of people and the medical problems that they bring.