California Sues U.S. Government Over Costs Tied to Illegal Aliens This was in 1994 it's not the Feds that get hit with costs of illegals, it's the States budget Concerns about the financial burden of providing public benefits and services have prompted several states, including California, to sue the federal government for repayment of these costs.  To help Congress evaluate California's request for federal reimbursement, GAO examined estimates of the fiscal impact of illegal aliens living in California. GAO examined estimates presented in the Governor of California's 1994-95 budget published in January 1994, the state's revised estimates published in September 1994, and estimates by Urban Institute researchers published in September 1994.  Florida, Arizona, Texas, and New Jersey also have filed suit for reimbursement. a lot of info here  http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/pub/Immigration/IllegalImm/GAOCosts.html here is a NY Times article.. I cant read it, I'm out of free articles  https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/01/us/california-sues-us-government-over-costs-tied-to-illegal-aliens.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=C4665C154E43D8A1AABA7531EABB7D6F&gwt=pay How things have changed   SMH