California is home to an estimated 2.5 million illegal aliens, according to the Pew Research Center, the largest such population of any state. Between 2021 and 2023 alone, the state’s undocumented population grew by 400,000. The state has also built the most generous benefits architecture for illegal immigrants in the country, including driver’s licenses, college scholarships, low-income tax credits, pandemic cash aid, and comprehensive Medi-Cal health coverage, according to CalMatters.
In 2017, California enacted a sanctuary state law prohibiting most cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents.
One of the single largest expenses is healthcare. California has expanded Medi-Cal to illegal immigrants incrementally since 2016, covering children first, then young adults, then seniors, and finally adults ages 26 to 49 in January 2024, making it the first state to offer full-scope Medicaid to all income-eligible residents regardless of immigration status.
Approximately 1.6 million illegal immigrants are enrolled, representing about 5.3 percent of total Medi-Cal enrollment. The program was originally projected to cost $3 billion per year.
By FY 2024–25, the state was spending $9.5 billion, including $8.4 billion from the general fund alone. This represents 25 percent of all general fund spending on Medi-Cal, according to the California Senate Republican Caucus. The overage was driven by higher-than-anticipated enrollment, with the state spending $2.7 billion more than budgeted on the immigrant population alone, according to the California Department of Health Care Services.
The FY 2025–26 projection rises to $12.4 billion before any savings measures. Even while facing a multi-billion-dollar deficit, Newsom released $35 million that the Legislature had set aside to connect immigrant families with food assistance and other basic needs during President Trump’s deportation operations. This is in addition to funds already allocated for legal resources for immigrants facing deportation.
Under fiscal pressure, Newsom and the Legislature agreed to freeze new Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented adults aged 19 and older beginning January 1, 2026, and to charge existing enrollees a $30 monthly premium starting in July 2027, measures enacted in the Budget Act of 2025, signed June 27, 2025.
K-12 public education is the single largest expenditure category. Under the Supreme Court’s 1982 ruling in Plyler v. Doe, public schools cannot deny enrollment based on immigration status, making this a mandatory cost. Total annual spending on school outlays and English instruction for children of illegal immigrants exceeds $14.5 billion, at a projected per-student cost of $23,878 for FY2024–25. Incarceration adds an estimated $1 to $2 billion annually, net of limited federal reimbursements through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, according to a 2019 FAIR analysis.
The state’s One California program provides $45 million per year in legal defense for low-income immigrants in federal immigration court. Over three consecutive budget years, the state allocated $430 million in Rapid Response Funding for immigrants ineligible for federal assistance, with more than $422 million disbursed to nonprofit contractors.
Beyond those line items, California extends a range of programs to illegal immigrants either by statute or by not requiring proof of immigration status. Workers’ compensation is available to all workers regardless of status under state law. The California Food Assistance Program runs parallel to the federal CalFresh program for those ineligible due to immigration status.
The state Employment Development Department allows undocumented workers to apply for Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave without a Social Security number. In-Home Supportive Services covers undocumented elderly and disabled Medi-Cal recipients. The California Dream Act allows qualifying undocumented students to apply for state financial aid and exemptions from out-of-state tuition at CSU campuses and community colleges.
Illegal alien parents can apply for CalFresh on behalf of citizen or eligible immigrant children in the household. Proof of immigration status is not required for anyone who is not applying for benefits for themselves. The Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants provides monthly cash benefits to aged, blind, or disabled non-citizens ineligible for federal SSI solely because of immigration status. Universal school meals are available to all students.
Adding the confirmed state-acknowledged figures, $9.5 billion in healthcare, $14.5 billion in K-12 education, and $1 to $2 billion in incarceration, puts documented line-item costs above $25 billion annually before accounting for the programs listed above. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimated total state and local costs at nearly $31 billion in 2022.
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