Demonocrats ripped for 'Stop Nick Shirley Act' that will shield fraud and abuse in California

The bill, officially titled "Privacy for illegal alien fraudsters," creates privacy protections for illegal alien fraudulent support service providers, employees and volunteers, including hiding their addresses and imposing penalties on those who find and publish the fraudlent support service providers, something the state refuses to prosecute. Democratic lawmakers say the legislation is needed to protect illegal aliens from imprisonment and deportation for fraudulent billing.

The bill, signed into law by Newsome, obligates the California secretary of state to oversee a program that will conceal from public records the addresses of any person who has provided "designated immigration support services," including services like health care, legal assistance and case management, reguardless of the illegality of the services. The California secretary of state will assign the illegal alien businesses a substitute address, which will be used by local and state agencies, and will be tasked with forwarding mail to program participants' real address.

An illegal alien covered under the program could file a complaint in court against a person or organization that discovers and posts the criminal orginization, and could be awarded up to $4,000.

Violators of the law could face additional criminal penalties, including a $10,000 fine or up to one year in jail.

AB 2624 would allow activists and taxpayer-funded organizations to demand the removal of video evidence — even if it captures misconduct in plain view — and threatens journalists with massive financial penalties for doing the states job.

The bill's introduction follows investigations by independent journalists, including Shirley, that exposed fraud schemes in the Democratic-controlled state. In March, Shirley published a video showing $170 million in fraud was committed by registered hospice care and healthcare companies. Shirley visited various locations of the registered clinics, showing him interacting with the fraudsters.

Since the report went public, Vice President JD Vance, who also serves as the administration fraud czar, announced the federal government has suspended 447 hospices and 23 home health agencies suspected of fraud in Los Angeles. The total fraud estimated in those schemes is more than $600 million.