ST. PAUL — Clergy members and Minnesota Democrats stood outside the House chamber Friday morning, reading letters from undocumented immigrants who are preparing to potentially be kicked off their health care.

One of those letters was from a Southern Minnesotan, Gabby, read by Pastor Melissa Melnick of Tapestry Luther. Gabby has lived in Minnesota for 24 years, is a packing factory worker and is a diabetic who had struggled without health insurance before MinnesotaCare.

“Accessing minimal care to manage my condition was nearly impossible,” Melnick read off Gabby's letter. “Sometimes my coworkers pitched in so I could afford my insulin, but most of the time, I rationed it or stopped taking it because I had no health insurance. I lost my right foot."

Gabby said in the letter that when he heard of the potential to lose MinnesotaCare, he had a panic attack and immediately feared the loss of another limb.

The prayer vigil on May 16 comes in response to a budget deal struck between legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday that proposes repealing MinnesotaCare — the 1992-established state health care program — for undocumented adults, while protecting coverage for undocumented children.

The peaceful vigil on Friday contrasted with Thursday’s reaction from DFL lawmakers to the deal, when the same lawmakers banged on the door of the Governor’s reception room during a press conference and shouted, “You’re killing our communities!” “One Minnesota, right?” and “Open the door!”

Republicans have been pushing all session to repeal MinnesotaCare, among other state-funded programs like the North Star Promise Tuition — for all undocumented immigrants. Thursday’s deal marked a compromise, with Democrats winning protection for children.

But advocates on Friday said the compromise falls short. Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, executive director of Unidos Minnesota, said this is a matter of dignity.

“For those who could keep blaming immigrants for the scarcity, for the deficits, that we know continue to make the pockets of already millionaires deeper … take a deal that means the dignity of Minnesotans,” Gonzalez said.

Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, concurred on Thursday with what her Republican colleagues have said all session, which is that the repeal of immigrants is a fiscal matter as the state stares down a potential $6 billion budget deficit.

“It’s not a measure of being uncaring,” Demuth said. “It’s a fiscal issue, and there are still opportunities. Those Minnesotans that are here, those that are here illegally, they can still join the private market.”

Another story from the vigil on Friday came from St. Paul resident Dieo Do, daughter of Mexican and Vietnamese immigrants, who said Friday was especially emotional for her as it marked the eight-year anniversary of her dad’s death.

She said her parents worked in the restaurant industry, didn’t have access to health care, and faced discrimination from doctors. By the time her dad accessed proper care, she said it was too late.

“Can you imagine at 17 years old becoming the main provider for your family. Can you imagine the heartbreak of having to translate for your mom, 'Do you want a burial or cremation for your dad?'” Do said. “When we're talking about this killing our community members, this is not hyperbole … It is happening, and it happened to me, it happened to my family.”

The extension of MinnesotaCare to undocumented immigrants passed the Minnesota Legislature in 2023 and launched in January 2025.

In the first few months of the law taking effect, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) reports that as of April 24, 20,187 people enrolled list undocumented as their status — 24% of these are children, or roughly 4,800. Of the 20,187, 4,306 had claims for the program, resulting in a total cost of $3.9 million in paid claims, according to DHS.

Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, and co-chair of the People of Color and Indigenous Caucus, said his caucus and he will not be voting for this deal. What Frazier did not clarify is whether the Democrats will block all of the budget bills or block only the health budget bill, which carries the issue of MinnesotaCare for undocumented immigrants.

“There is no fiscal, there is no economic argument to be made when we take away people's health care,” Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina. “So what they did was purely cruel. It was cruelty dressed as fiscal responsibility.”

With Democrat votes in the air, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul and Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, would need to recruit the support of their Republican colleagues to pass the budget bills.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, didn’t commit on Thursday to voting “yes” on the health budget bill, but said the compromise of coverage for children is something he thinks “Most Minnesotans can get behind.”

“An open-ended program like this, accepting people from all over, we don't know what the budgetary constraints are on that, and so this gives us a lot of certainty within what that program is going to look like, what the costs are going to look like, and who's covered,” Johnson said.

The Legislature has until May 19 to pass a budget during the regular session. A budget must be enacted by July 1 to avoid a full or partial government shutdown.