Immigration Legislation

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2025 Legislation

  • SBX1-1: Enables California to legally defend against federal policies adversely impacting the state, its taxpayers and residents by providing the Department of Justice up to $25 million. Promotes transparency by requiring disclosure on a public website noting how this taxpayer money is being used.
     
  • SBX1-2: Strengthens resources for immigration and legal aid services by providing $10 million to the Legal Services Trust Fund, $10 million to the Immigration Services Funding program, also known as One California, as well as $5 million to be distributed to nonprofit organizations through the Judicial Council’s California Access to Justice Commission.
     
  • SB 81: Restores the immigrant community’s sense of safety in healthcare settings by prohibiting immigration enforcement officers into private areas of healthcare settings unless presented with a valid judicial warrant or court order. Establishes procedures for how employees in these settings should respond when immigration enforcement officers request access information about the immigrant patient or their family members.
     
  • SB 635: Safeguards the privacy of Californians bolstering local economies through street vending by prohibiting local agencies that regulate their businesses from collecting citizenship status or criminal background information.
     
  • SB 580: Preserves trust between California’s immigration community and state and local agencies by requiring the Attorney General to work with stakeholders in developing and publishing model policies for these agencies’ interactions with immigration enforcement.
     
  • SB 98: Informs students and school staff when immigration enforcement has been confirmed on K-12 and higher education campuses.
     
  • AB 49: Strengthens protections for California’s immigrant community by ensuring employees of an immigration enforcement agency are not allowed on school campuses without presenting a valid judicial warrant or court order. Prevents school officials from providing information about students, their families, teachers and school employees to immigration authorities.
     
  • SB 627: Fights for transparency from federal immigration agents by making it a crime for any peace officer operating in California from wearing a facial covering in the performance of their duties.
     
  • SB 805: Protects all Californians by expanding the crime of false impersonation of a peace officer; requires law enforcement agencies to adopt policies to visibly display identification, and requires specified law enforcement officers operating in California who are not uniformed to visibly display identification that includes either a name or badge number to the public when performing their duties.
     
  • AB 495: Strengthens protections for students at school by requiring local educational agencies to notify their loved ones of the students’ right to a free, public education and requires these agencies to ensure their policies regarding immigration enforcement activity stay updated with the CA Attorney General’s latest guidance. Additionally, requires the administrator of a child day care facility to request updated emergency contact information from parents and to report to the licensing agency and the California Attorney General (AG) any request for information by an officer of any law enforcement agency.
     
  • SB 281: Protects noncitizen legal defendants by requiring courts to administer a verbatim advisement about immigration consequences before accepting pleas of guilty or no contest.
     
  • AB 1261: Mandates the provision of legal counsel for immigrant youth, including unaccompanied undocumented minors in immigration-related proceedings.

 

 

Historical Legislation (2000-2024)

  • AB 540: Provided students residing in California, regardless of immigration status, to be exempt from paying nonresident tuition at public colleges and universities.
     
  • AB 130 and AB 131: Expanded educational opportunities for undocumented students who qualify for in-state tuition by allowing them to access privately-funded scholarships administered by California public colleges and universities.
     
  • AB 4: Ensured law enforcement officials cannot detain undocumented individuals eligible for release from local jails on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold unless the individual has been convicted of or charged with specified crimes.
     
  • AB 60: Enabled undocumented individuals without proper documentation of citizenship to obtain a driver’s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles if they meet all other qualifications for licensure and provides satisfactory proof to the DMV, of their identity and California residency.
     
  • SB 873: Protected the rights and well-being of undocumented, unaccompanied minors by clarifying that state courts have the ability to grant them Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, providing court interpreters to these proceedings, and allocated millions for legal counsel and related services.
     
  • SB 4: Enhanced opportunities for undocumented children to access basic medical care by expanding full Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented children and teens under 19.
     
  • AB 2792: Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds Act, or TRUTH Act, established basic procedural protections and transparency for people in local law enforcement custody when federal immigration authorities, especially ICE, seek access or intend to interview them.
     
  • SB 54: California Values Act, upheld California’s commitment to protecting immigrant communities by prohibiting state and local law enforcement from using resources for immigration enforcement and restricting their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
     
  • AB 450: Immigrant Worker Protection Act, ensured undocumented individuals were safe from deportation while at work by limiting employer cooperation with federal immigration and prohibits federal immigration agents from entering nonpublic worksite areas without a judicial order.
     
  • AB 291: Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, protected immigrant tenants from landlord intimidation and retaliation based on immigration status or threats of reporting to federal authorities.
     
  • AB 299: Immigration Housing Data Collection, protected private information of undocumented individuals by barring public entities from compelling rental property owners and managers to compile information or take any action, including the denial of accommodations, based on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant or prospective tenant.
     
  • SB 785: Immigration Status Protections in Court, safeguarded participation in the judicial system by preventing the disclosure of a person’s immigration status in open court, protecting the status of victims and witnesses from being exposed.
     
  • SB 104: Medi-Cal for Undocumented Young Adults expanded healthcare access by allowing undocumented immigrants from ages 19-25 and later expanded to over 65 years of age to be eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal in the Budget Act of 2022 and 2023, and AB 133 Health Omnibus Trailer Bill.
     
  • AB 278: Established the Dream Resource Center Grant Program to create new centers and support existing centers in public high schools across the state in connecting undocumented students with opportunities to find a way to fund higher education.
     
  • SB 1132: Promoted transparency and oversight of private immigrant detention facilities by clarifying that county health officers have the authority to inspect these facilities as deemed necessary.