The change was a sticking point during negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, for whom repealing that law was a top priority in the divided Legislature.

The vote came after an hours-long debate wherein Democrats accused Republicans of leaving immigrants “out to die.”

For the last three weeks, key negotiators and legislative leaders in Minnesota were discussing largely behind closed doors to get all the bills ready to go for Monday's special session. Lawmakers cleared one of the biggest hurdles of the session by passing a bill that removes undocumented immigrant adults from the state health coverage program.