California Considers Giving Phone Subsidies to Illegal Immigrants

The California Public Utilities Commission is considering removing the requirement. that residents provide a Social Security number to be eligible for California LifeLine, the governmentgovernment-run program that provides telephone subsidies to low-income residents.

Expanding the California LifeLine program to undocumented immigrants would bring about 2 million additional residents into the program. According to the Pew Research Center, the share of California households with an illegal immigrant was 8% and represented 7% of the labor force in 2022.

The agency will vote on the proposal on September 26.

“If an undocumented Californian is having a hard time, they should benefit from this program, just like any other Californian,” said CPUC President Alice Reynolds. Policy.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has tapped Reynolds to lead the CPUC in 2021. While she is a Newsom appointee, the governor doesn’t necessarily agree with her latest proposal.

With a tight presidential race looming between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the governor warned his Golden State colleagues to avoid controversial issues that could detract from a winning message in November.

Expanding the CPUC program to illegal immigrants could well be one such measure. Record levels of illegal immigration are a message Trump is using to strike a chord with his base. The former president and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), often warn that undocumented immigrants are taking advantage of federal programs and draining resources from American citizens.

While the CPUC chairwoman and her allies say expanding the California LifeLine program is a matter of fairness, arguing that undocumented immigrants who pay into the system should benefit, some Republicans in the state are echoing Trump’s message. They worry that many newcomers to the U.S. will benefit from the subsidies without having previously paid into the program.

“If you’re down on your luck and we want to give you a hand up, not a handout, I’m all for it,” Republican Sen. Brian Dahle told the outlet. “But continuing to burden the average taxpayer by giving aid to people who didn’t pay into the system? I’m all for it.”

“If you’re down on your luck and we want to give you a hand up, not a handout, I’m all for it,” Dahle said. “But continuing to burden the average taxpayer by giving aid to people who didn’t pay into the system? I’m all for it.” @politico https://t.co/HJklRTyWGm

— Senator Brian Dahle (@BrianDahleCA) September 12, 2024

California Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones made a similar point in his comments to the Washington Examiner.

“This is just another in a long line of free gifts from taxpayers to illegal immigrants who don’t even have to prove they paid to pay,” Jones said. “Once again, California is sending a message to the rest of the world to come here illegally and get their free gift. This time, it’s discounted phones.”

Jones, the top Republican in the Golden State’s upper house, already associates the CPUC’s agenda with a Harris administration.

“If Newsom’s PUC moves forward with this plan, Americans should be very concerned that a Harris-Walz administration will implement this policy nationwide,” he said.

It’s not yet clear whether Newsom will choose to shelve the CPUC’s new measure to extend subsidies to undocumented immigrants or move forward with it, though that could give Republicans more arrows in their quiver to fire at Democrats before Election Day.

Earlier this year, he chose to support controversial legislation that would make it a crime for schools to provide parents with information about a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Newsom drew sharp condemnation from Republicans after signing the bill this summer.

“School officials have no right to keep secrets from parents, but parents have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school,” reads a press release from the Liberty Justice Center. The conservative nonprofit is suing the state over the bill. “Parents are the legal guardians of their children, not Governor Newsom, Attorney General (Rob) Bonta or Superintendent (Tony) Thurmond.”

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However, Newsom signed the controversial measure before Harris was signed into law at the top of the Democratic ticket. The vice president spent years as an elected official in the state, and the Trump campaign used her career as fodder for attack. With all eyes on Newsom’s longtime colleague and her home state, the governor may be more reluctant to support the CPUC measure than he was just a few months ago.

THE Washington Examiner reached out to Newsom’s office for comment but did not receive a response.