California expands privacy protections as Democratic-led states resist
Trump's immigration agenda
[October 13, 2025]
By DAVID A. LIEB
Immigrants selling food, flowers and other merchandise along the
sidewalks of California will have new privacy protections intended to
keep their identities secret from federal immigration agents.
The measure, signed into law this past week by Democratic Gov. Gavin
Newsom, comes on the heels of other recently enacted state laws meant to
shield students in schools and patients at health care facilities from
the reach of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement actions.
Democratic-led states are adding laws resisting Trump even as he
intensifies his deportation campaign by seeking to deploy National Guard
troops to Democratic-led cities to reinforce U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement officers who are arresting people suspected of being
in the U.S. illegally.
By contrast, some Republican-led states are requiring local law
enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE agents.
“The actions of the states really reflect the polarization of the
country on this issue,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies
at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports immigration
restrictions. “We have seen some states move to cooperate to the
greatest extent that they possibly can” with Trump’s administration and
others “doing what they can to try to thwart immigration enforcement in
their state.”
Across the U.S, state lawmakers this year have passed more than 100
bills relating to immigration, according to an Associated Press analysis
aided by the bill tracking software Plural. The measures are divided
almost evenly between those providing and denying protections to
immigrants.
California is shielding immigrant information
Immigrants comprise a significant portion of California's urban sidewalk
vendors. Some have been swept up in immigration enforcement actions, in
part, because their outdoor work in public places makes them easier
targets than people behind closed doors.
California's street vendors typically need permits from cities or
counties. The new law prohibits local governments from inquiring about
vendors' immigration status, requiring fingerprinting or disclosing
personal information — name, address, birth date, social media
identifiers and telephone, driver's license and Social Security numbers,
among other things — without a judicial subpoena.
The law, which will take effect Jan. 1, was prompted by concerns that
vendor databases kept by local governments could be accessed by federal
immigration agents to target people for detention and deportation.
“We’re talking about really security –- security for businesses,
security for human beings, security for people who have gone through so
much," said Sergio Jimenez, a street vending organizer with the
nonprofit Community Power Collective in Los Angeles.
Additional laws recently signed by Newsom add immigration status to a
list of protected medical information and prohibit schools from granting
access to immigration enforcement officials without a court warrant.
Another new California law directs schools and higher education
institutions to immediately notify staff and students or parents when
immigration officials are on campus.
Democratic states create safe places for immigrants
Upon taking office, Trump reversed a policy restricting federal
immigration agents from arresting people at sensitive locations such as
schools, churches and hospitals. Like California, other Democratic-led
states responded with laws attempting to create safe places for
immigrants.
A Maryland law enacted earlier this year requires public schools,
libraries and health care facilities to restrict access for immigration
enforcement officials unless presented with a court warrant. Nevada's
Republican governor vetoed a similar measure for schools that had been
passed by the Democratic-led Legislature.
Meanwhile, a new Colorado law allows civil penalties of up to $50,000
for public child care centers, schools, colleges, health care facilities
and libraries that collect information about people’s immigration
status, with some exceptions. New laws in Rhode Island prohibit health
care providers and landlords from inquiring about people's immigration
status. Oregon also enacted a similar law for landlords.
[to top of second column]
|
Flower vendor Jose, an immigrant from Mexico, sits for a photo with
his face covered by flowers outside a gas station in Los Angeles,
Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
States split on aiding federal immigration agents
By contrast, Republican-led states have passed numerous laws
intended to bolster Trump’s immigration policies.
New laws in Texas, Florida and Arkansas require sheriffs who run
jails to enter into federal agreements for their officers to be
trained to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. State and
local participation in the federal 287(g) immigration enforcement
program — named after the section of law that created it — has
exploded from 135 agreements in 21 states before Trump took office
in January to more than 1,000 agreements presently in place in 40
states.
But some Democratic-led states have refused to take part. A new
Delaware law prohibits participation in the program, similar to
statutes already in place in California and Illinois. Democratic-led
Vermont also tightened its restrictions on participating in federal
immigration enforcement programs, repealing an exemption that had
allow it during emergencies.
A Connecticut law that took effect in October allows people to sue
local governments that cooperate with federal immigration
authorities in violation of the state’s “Trust Act.”
Public benefits are a point of contention
In Washington, new state laws allow workers to take paid leave to
attend immigration proceedings for themselves or family members and
prohibit employers from using immigration status to coerce their
employees.
But some Republican-led states have enacted laws limiting benefits
for people in the country illegally.
A new Idaho law prohibits immigrants without legal status from
receiving some publicly funded health benefits, including
vaccinations, crisis counseling and prenatal and postnatal care for
women. A new Louisiana law requires applicants for public benefits
to be screened for legal immigration status and, if lacking it,
reported to federal immigration authorities
Several Republican-led states — including Florida, Louisiana, New
Hampshire, Tennessee and Wyoming — have adopted laws invalidating
certain driver’s licenses issued to immigrants in the U.S.
illegally.
College tuition discounts are diminishing
Entering into this year, nearly half the states provided in-state
tuition to public colleges and universities for residents living in
the U.S. illegally. But that number has dwindled since Trump took
office and the U.S. Department of Justice began suing states. The
federal lawsuits assert states are violating the Constitution by
providing in-state tuition for people without legal status while not
offering the same benefit to out-of-state U.S. citizens.
Florida repealed its decade-old law allowing in-state tuition for
students lacking legal status, effective July 1. Republican-led
Texas and Oklahoma both ended similar tuition policies after getting
sued by the Justice Department. Kentucky, which has a Democratic
governor, also has taken steps to halt its policy after getting
sued.
California lawmakers attempted to enhance tuition benefits for
immigrants with a first-of-its kind measure allowing community
college students who get deported or voluntarily leave the U.S. to
continue receiving in-state tuition while taking online courses from
afar. But Newsom vetoed the measure earlier this month, citing
“significant constitutional concerns” that the tuition break was
offered only to students who left the country and not also to
residents of other U.S. states.
A bill passed by New Mexico's Democratic-led Legislature this year
would have expanded in-state tuition breaks to immigrants who earned
income in New Mexico during the previous two years or who attended
at least two semesters of adult education courses. But Democratic
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham let the bill die without her signature.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
