Currently immigrants in the U.S. who do not have a legal residency status are excluded from the Affordable Care Act.

Also in August of this year there was a ruling that excluded those who were approved through deferred action.

In light of this situation Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, who serves in California's 34th Congressional District, sent a letter to President Barrack Obama with the support of 81 colleagues, where she urged him to reverse the decision that was taken in August by the Health and Human Services Department.

In her letter she states:

"There is no principled reason to treat differently young people who received deferred action through DACA and any other person who has received deferred action. The unfairness of singling out DACA beneficiaries is also clear when you consider that many of them will now be studying alongside students with nonimmigrant visas who have not been excluded from the ACA."

This letter also pointed out that "illness does not discriminate on the basis of documentation or legal status."

"With up to 1.7 million immigrants potentially benefiting from deferred action under DACA, there are significant costs to leaving immigrants uninsured if they are unable to afford health care on their own, particularly if they turn to hospital emergency rooms and public safety net hospitals for care—ultimately driving up costs in the long run."

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, 61% of illegal immigrants live in California and most of them go to emergency departments because they cannot afford private physicians, but also even if there was health care insurance available for immigrants, most could not afford it or they would not be eligible because of residency requirements.

Now, have you ever wondered much does illegal immigration cost for California? According to a study conducted by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, it costs Californians 22 billion dollars each year all spread out into health care services, education and incarceration.

If the decision to exclude individuals from the ACA is reversed, will the cost for California actually go down on what is spent each year in these services?

Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com