Rapper-actor 50 Cent on Wednesday slammed California over the state’s legislation that uses taxpayer money to fund health care for illegal immigrants.
50 Cent, who is also a television producer and businessman, took to social media to question the decision, publicly seeking out the advice of MSNBCjournalist Ari Melber to help provide context to the situation.
“I don’t understand this, this it going to cost 2.6 billion dollars for tax payers,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “They don’t even give veterans health insurance. @arimelber call my phone now, help me understand this [expletive],” he added.
50 Cent Includes Newsom Image in Post
In his post, the rapper, 48, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, included an image of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) above a caption that read: “California Becomes First US State to Offer Health Insurance to All Illegal Migrants.”
On Monday, California lawmakers expanded health insurance—under the state program known as Medi-Cal—to about 700,000 illegal aliens between the ages of 26 and 49.
It was in 2015 that then-California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) set the precedent by signing legislation, which allowed illegal migrant children to qualify for Medi-Cal.
In 2019, Newsom followed that up by expanding that coverage for illegal aliens ages 19 to 25.
Now, the taxpayer-funded health insurance has been taken a step further, covering illegal immigrants ages 26 and 49.
“In California, we believe everyone deserves access to quality, affordable health care coverage—regardless of income or immigration status,” Newsom’s office told ABC News. “Through this expansion, we’re making sure families and communities across California are healthier, stronger, and able to get the care they need when they need it.”
New Health Care Provisions to Cost $3.1 Billion Yearly
According to reports, the new health care provisions, which will be provided via the state’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, will cost California an average of $3.1 billion annually.
That’s as the federal government says it has recorded more than 2 million encounters of illegal migrants crossing the southern border in fiscal year 2023, with more than 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022, according to data published by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Meanwhile, an annual report by one of the country’s largest moving companies has again put California as No. 1 in the nation for people leaving the state on one-way trips.
Wealthy, Middle-Class Continue to Leave California
The great California exodus, as dubbed by some, is expected to continue into 2024. That’s as a growing list of wealthy Hollywood celebrities have joined hundreds of thousands of everyday residents who have fled the Golden State,
The Epoch Times previously reported.
Among them include actors Mark Wahlberg, Sylvester Stallone, Sean Patrick Flanery, Robert Davi, and Dean Cain, along with musicians Sheryl Crow, Rod Stewart, and Nikki Six.
While some have decided to settle elsewhere amid the state’s rising crime, out-of-control homelessness, high taxes, and one-party Democratic rule, others have other reasons.
Regardless, those leaving all seem to agree the state no longer holds the allure it once did.
“Government can ruin an area. And that’s what’s going on in California,” Mr. Cain told Fox News. “It’s the most ridiculous large government, incredible taxation, horrible regulations for business. Very anti-business. The personal income tax is 13—the highest levels—13, 13.2, whatever it happens to be.”
“You’re getting hit with the highest gas tax in the nation. Sales tax, food tax, energy tax, natural gas tax. It’s as though they’re trying to tax people out of there,” he added.
Between 2020 and 2022, California had lost about half a million people. In 2023, the state saw its third straight year of population decline. The number of people living in California dropped below 39 million this last year, its lowest level since 2015, according to recently published U.S. Census estimates.
