California Assembly approves $50M to defend immigrants and protect state policies from Trump plans

California’s Democratic-dominated Assembly endorsed up to $50 million in funding Monday to defend the state’s progressive policies against challenges by the Trump administration.

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.

The proposals won approval on party-line votes after Assembly Democrats delayed an expected vote last week. They now head to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’ s desk.

“We do not trust President Donald Trump,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said before the votes, describing Trump’s administration as “out of control” and a threat to constitutional rights.

Republican leader James Gallagher called the plan a political stunt that sapped away time from dealing with wildfires and the soaring cost of living in the state. Rather than getting ready for a fight with Trump, “we could be talking about how we could make things more affordable,” he said.

At a recent hearing on the proposed funding, Democratic Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur said it is about “making sure that whatever happens at the federal level — and we don’t know what that’s going to be to a great extent yet — that our government is actually looking out for the rights of California families.”

Newsom called lawmakers into a special session in November to pass the proposals. The longtime Trump political rival said at the time that California’s freedoms were threatened by the Republican president’s election and that the state wouldn’t “sit idle” as he returned to the nation’s highest office.

But after destructive wildfires broke out in January around Los Angeles, Newsom expanded the special session to also pass fire-relief funding. The move came after Republican lawmakers said the focus on Trump was misplaced as the blazes raged on.

Newsom won bipartisan approval for the fire proposals in the Legislature, and he signed the $2.5 billion package into law. The money is for the state’s disaster response including evacuations, sheltering survivors and removing household hazardous waste. The laws also included $4 million for local governments to streamline approvals for rebuilding homes, and $1 million to support school districts and help them rebuild facilities.

On Jan. 24, Newsom welcomed Trump with a unifying tone in Los Angeles, where the president came to tour the devastation. The state will need federal help to recover from the disaster — aid Trump has suggested he might pull if the state doesn’t change its water policies. Congressional Republicans who represent California have pushed back on that idea.

Republican state Assemblymember Bill Essayli, who represents part of Southern California’s Inland Empire, said at a recent committee hearing that moving forward with the funding for lawsuits was “incredibly tone-deaf.”

“We’re fighting not only fires now but mudslides, and we should be focused on wildfire recovery, relief and prevention,” he said.

Republicans have also argued the funding was premature, noting the proposals were unveiled before Trump returned to office.

The Legislature had approved about $6.5 million annually for the Department of Justice to defend the state against the federal government during Trump’s first presidency. But the agency, over the course of four years, ended up spending much more than that.

California sued the Trump administration more than 120 times during the president’s first term, according to the attorney general’s office. The state spent about $42 million overall on legal battles against the federal government, ranging from around $2 million to nearly $13 million a year. The suits mostly targeted immigration and environmental policies.

Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who represents Oakland, and other Democrats have said the new funding will help the state support families who are living in fear because of Trump’s mass deportation plans.

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.

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Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @ sophieadanna