Immigrants’ rights groups in California exhaled loudly after seeing the state’s final budget, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed June 29. Despite needing to make deep spending cuts to address significant deficits, the 2024-25 budget kept intact a legal advocacy program that is central to improving the lives of immigrants but had been on the chopping block.
It wasn’t a perfect ending. The governor also decided to delay a promised program that would extend badly needed food benefits to older Californians regardless of their immigration status. Still, progress was made, albeit in halting steps.
“We are thankful that in the challenging context of a budget deficit, our state leaders largely upheld the strides we have made toward immigrant equity,” Sarah Dar, policy director for the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), told Capital & Main. “Yet when it comes to many of the policies and programs that are intended to protect all who call California home from poverty and ensure access to economic opportunity and fair treatment under the law, immigrants continue to be excluded.”
According to the UC Merced Community and Labor Center, undocumented workers comprise 6% of the state’s jobs and generate $3.7 billion in state and local tax revenue. Yet an estimated 64% of all undocumented people in California live in or near poverty, compared with a statewide average of 35%.
Here’s a rundown of key immigrant-related budget decisions, some of which were hammered out with the Democrat-controlled Legislature prior to final approval:
Legal Services. At one point during budget negotiations, Newsom proposed a drastic cut to one of the most effective immigrant support programs in the state. The CSU Immigration Legal Services Project provides free and confidential legal services to students, staff, faculty and family members across California State University’s 23-campus system.
The program, created in 2018, has benefitted thousands of immigrants each year. It has been particularly important, supporters say, in parts of the state where such services are hard to find, including the San Joaquin Valley and the Inland Empire. But Newsom proposed nearly gutting the program by reducing its budget allocation from $7 million to $1.8 million for the coming year.
In the end, the project was fully restored at $7 million, and the state maintained its funding of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) immigration program as well. California Immigrant Policy Center executive director Masih Fouladi said in a statement that those decisions ensure “thousands of California families and individuals will continue to access the immigration legal services they need.”
Food insecurity. Immigrants’ rights advocates have been pushing for years to extend to undocumented immigrants a basic survival tool available to other Californians: access to CalFresh via the California Food Assistance Program, the state’s version of food stamps.
It appeared for a while that an important step was being taken in that direction, with Newsom initially proposing to open CalFresh to all income-eligible Californians over age 55, regardless of their immigration status, beginning Oct. 1, 2025. But that changed in May with the governor’s revised budget.
In the end, Newsom delayed extending the program to undocumented immigrants age 55 and older until 2027, when he’ll no longer be in office. Those 54 and younger who are undocumented are currently not eligible for the program.
“Hunger doesn’t wait. Your immigration status should not matter when you are hungry,” said State Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), a member of the Food4All coalition, which has been working to expand food assistance to all people in the state. “Excluding immigrant communities undermines our well-being and hinders our state’s ability to thrive. We must get this right.”
Members of the Food4All coalition said that delaying the benefits will affect as many as 100,000 people. The coalition’s research has found that more than a third of undocumented immigrants 55 and older experience food insecurity, along with 46% of those 54 and younger.
In Home Supportive Services (IHSS). The final budget did not disturb state funding of IHSS as it pertains to undocumented immigrants, which Newsom at one point had proposed cutting in order to save an estimated $95 million. IHSS pays assistants, often family members, to care for eligible Medi-Cal patients (including elderly and disabled) with routine tasks that allow them to live safely in their homes rather than move into nursing facilities. The California Immigrant Policy Center’s Fouladi praised the rejection of Newsom’s proposal as “upholding the state’s commitment to Health4All,” a campaign to ensure that undocumented immigrants receive health care services.
Assistance for unaccompanied children. Money to renew a trial program that provided legal and social assistance to undocumented minors was cut out completely. The Children’s Holistic Immigration Representation Project was created in 2022 in response to the growing number of minors showing up alone at the state’s southern border. Its funds were used to give those minors legal representation and, often, a social worker, but at a cost of $17.8 million, it was left behind in the revised budget.
Medi-Cal expansion. Though the issue flew under the radar, it’s notable that the budget didn’t touch any funding earmarked for the buildout of Medi-Cal. Newsom’s administration has worked systematically to expand the state’s version of Medicaid to include all residents regardless of their immigration status, a hallmark of the governor’s tenure. As of the start of this year, all California residents, including those who are undocumented, can qualify for Medi-Cal if they meet the income eligibility requirements.
