Kare 11: Bishop Kevin Kenney, Minnesota Catholic Conference urge lawmakers to protect health care access for undocumented immigrants

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The issue has emerged as a major partisan roadblock, as lawmakers rush to meet the budget deadline. Jason Adkins, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said he's been in direct talks with Republicans about their stance on health care for undocumented immigrants.

"We work with Republicans and Democrats across the spectrum on a variety of issues, and certainly we have had those conversations about protecting our immigrant brothers and sisters, absolutely," Adkins said. "We've had constructive conversations but haven't seen a lot of policy movement on that yet."

House Republicans, led by Speaker Lisa Demuth, have made the issue a priority now that they have a tie in the House of Representatives and more influence over the budget process. 

Pointing to Minnesota Department of Human Services data, Republicans say the program for undocumented immigrants has grown too expensive and has surpassed original cost projections. A House fiscal analysis estimated that revoking access would save the state about $99 million over two years, although Republicans have released far larger estimates.

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According to a DHS spokesperson, 20,187 people have enrolled in MinnesotaCare so far while listing "undocumented" as their immigration status, totaling 4,306 claims for the program and equaling an overall cost of $3.9 million in claims.