Tucker Carlson opined the decline of California and how different it would look if the Golden State took care of its own as well as it does its illegal immigrants.

The Fox News host lamented the loss of the once “middle class paradise” in the face of overwhelming low-skilled immigration that has driven out the citizens who once made the west coast state the “land of limitless opportunity.”

“For more than a century California represented everything that was great about America,” Carlson said in his monologue Wednesday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

“In 1849, thousands rode wagons across the entire continent to participate in the gold rush,” he continued, noting California’s home to the film industry, farming and technology.

“It’s no accident that California became the country’s richest state. It was the land of limitless opportunity. Even if you never made millions there, you could live in what was, in effect, a middle class paradise,” Carlson said. “That’s not true anymore.”

“According to the census, almost a fifth of Californians now live in poverty. That’s the highest percentage in the country. California’s middle class is fleeing to Phoenix, and Reno, and Boise. Soon, the state will be comprised almost entirely of rich and poor,” he explained.

“How did this happen? That question is rarely asked,” he added, noting that the reason is actually simple.

“The answer is pretty simple — low-skilled immigration overwhelmed California,” Carlson contended.

“More than a quarter of the state’s entire population, as of today, is foreign-born. Again, the highest rate in the country,” he noted.

“Some of these immigrants are building successful new companies in Silicon Valley. Good for them, but most of them are not. In fact, the overwhelming majority of these immigrants are on welfare. Fully 72 percent of non-citizen households in the state of California now receive aid. That compares to just 35 percent of native born households, more than double the rate,” he said.

The Fox News host lamented the transformation of the state.

“Now, 100 years ago, immigrants came to California for opportunity, and now they come for the benefits,” he said. “Who can blame them? Democrats long ago discovered that welfare is a handy vote-buying scheme. Free stuff equals political power. So, they give more, even as native-born Californians are forced to flee an increasingly unaffordable state.”

Carlson slammed a proposal by the California Democrats to extend state-funded health insurance in the form of Medicaid coverage to adults who are illegally living in the state. That would mean about 1.2 million people would qualify for the state’s Medicaid program, according to the Washington Examiner.

“That means that literally anybody from anywhere on the globe could hop the border in Tijuana and get healthcare paid for by California taxpayers,” Carlson noted.

“Pretty generous,” he concluded. “If only California cared about its own people this much, it would still be the Golden State.”