FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2025
CONTACT: ANDREW HERRERA 847.977.3645 andrew@herrerastrategy.com
LAURIE R. GLENN 773.704.7246 lrglenn@thinkincstrategy.com
ILLINOIS – On July 1, 2025, 33,000 Illinois residents, all immigrants, are slated to lose their healthcare due to state budget cuts. Today, hundreds of Illinoisans will rally outside the state capitol (streaming on Facebook Live) to show their support for their fellow community members and to advocate for healthcare for everyone, regardless of immigration status.
“All Illinoisans will bear the cost for these healthcare cuts,” said Enddy Almonord, director of the Healthy Illinois Campaign, which is sponsoring the rally. “People without insurance and primary care physicians resort to emergency rooms for medical care. This strains an already overburdened healthcare system. It also taxes hospitals’ charity care budgets, which leaves fewer resources for people facing staggering medical bills from accidents and emergencies.”
This loss, she added, threatens our entire social safety net.
The people about to lose their coverage, meanwhile, will no longer be able to seek treatment for life-threatening illnesses, like cancer, or illnesses that can become life-threatening without proper care, like diabetes. “Without coverage, the cost of care will drive thousands into bankruptcy and push many more to forgo care, imperiling their lives and burdening our communities as these vital community members reach a crisis point,” said Almonord.
In Illinois, 96.5 percent of immigrants ages 19 to 64 are employed. In 2021, they paid a collective $8.6 billion in state and local taxes and $13.1 billion in federal taxes. A review of data in 2024 by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago research brief (available here), commissioned by the Healthy Illinois Campaign has shown:
- Immigrants Work: U.S. citizen adults aged 19-64, had an employment rate of 95.4 percent, while the employment rate for noncitizens in that age range was 96.5 percent.
- Immigrants Pay Taxes: Immigrant-led households in Illinois had $54.9 billion in spending power in 2021, paying $8.6 billion in state and local taxes and $13.1 billion in federal taxes.
- Reasonable Costs: HBIA and HBIS were only 0.6 percent of the 2023 Illinois state budget. In FY2023, HBIA and HBIS spending was about 1.8 percent of the Medical Assistance estimated expenditure.
- Productivity Rises: After the 2010 Affordable Care Act expansion of Medicaid, new recipients reported an 8 percent decrease in the number of work days missed due to poor health.
- More Preventive Care: Those who newly received coverage via the ACA medicaid expansion, in 2016, reported increases of 10 percent for routine checkups, 16 percent increase of mammograms, 14 percent increase in breast exams and 20 percent increase in dental visits.
- Covering Adults Helps Their Kids. Children participated in Medicaid at a rate 20 percentage points higher in states that expanded Medicaid to cover additional parents than in states with no expansions. In 2022 in Illinois, there were 282,300 children present in households with an uninsured non-citizen adult.
“These are the frontline workers who kept this state running,” said Nancy Salgado, director of organizing at PASO – West Suburban Action Project and one of the speakers at the rally. “And now they’re being told: you’re on your own.”
Their coverage, Salgado added, makes up less than one percent of the state budget.
Gabriela Perez, also from PASO – West Suburban Action Project, added “We take pride in being a sanctuary state, and the immigrant community contributes a great deal to this state. Our contributions not only amount to billions in investments and spending, but we are also an integral part of the history and culture of this state. Therefore, we deserve what everyone deserves.”
Rana Alkilani, with Arab American Services, said, “We will continue to advocate for those affected so they can get the care and compassion they deserve. Join our fight and demand that our legislators and Governor JB Pritzker restore coverage for adults.”
“Support a budget that protects healthcare access,” said Salgado. “Keep hospitals strong. Keep working families covered. Keep Illinois healthy.”
ABOUT: The Healthy Illinois Campaign is a statewide coalition that has a diverse cross-section of immigrant and healthcare advocates including community members, providers, organizers and policy experts. Its members are united by a common goal of making quality, affordable healthcare coverage accessible to all people in Illinois, regardless of immigration status. For more information please go to www.healthyillinoiscampaign.org.