California lawmakers signed off on $50 million in funding on Monday to defend immigrants and protect state policies against those established by the Trump administration, including his executive order to end birthright citizenship, federal deportation sweeps and his attempt to pause federal funding. The legislation sets aside $25 million for the state department of justice to fight legal battles against the federal government, and another $25 million for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation. There were about 1.8 million immigrants in California living in the country illegally in 2022, according to an estimate by the Pew Research Center.
California Governor Gavin Newsom finally signed the controversial $50 million special legislative package to "protect against Trump," an initiative proposed by Golden State Democrats in the wake of President Donald Trump's triumph last November. According to Newsom, the bill would "strengthen funding for legal services programs that are vital to safeguarding the civil rights of California's most vulnerable residents, including people with disabilities, homeless youth, victims of human trafficking and wage theft, people facing illegal evictions, immigrants and more."
The legislation will send $25 million to the California Department of Justice to sue the Trump administration and another $25 million for nonprofit legal services, including deportation defenses. The vote was initially scheduled for last Thursday, but Democratic leaders abruptly canceled the proceedings after Republican assemblywoman Leticia Castillo threatened to force a public debate on an amendment to block funds from bankrolling immigration legal services for convicted felons. The Democratic assembly speaker’s office said lawmakers were going to "look closely" at the plan to make sure its defenses were "airtight" and would "protect all Californians." But the legislation didn’t change. When Castillo presented her amendment, Assembly budget chair Jesse Gabriel (D.) called it "unnecessary," and Democrats voted to discard it without debate.
