California spent $11 BILLION on welfare programs, college grants, smartphones for illegal immigrants in 2025: report

The California state government has built up a shadow welfare system for illegal immigrants, devoting at least $11 billion in the last fiscal year alone to subsidize and provide benefits to those in the US who have no legal right to be here, according to a report from City Journal.

In total, California spends around $180 billion annually on food, healthcare programs, and other welfare benefits for residents. However, a good share of this is going to help illegal immigrants obtain healthcare, rental assistance, grants for college, smartphones, car insurance, and other services, all funded by the taxpayer.

City Journal's investigation found that officials in California were very transparent about the whole operation, and that it was something of an open secret that so much welfare was going to people not legally in the US. One program that they identified was California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), which is an alternative to the Supplemental Security Income that California doles out to those who are low-income.

One welfare officer in Glendale told the outlet, “If [you are] a citizen, you cannot get CAPI. I don’t care about legal or not. Not being [a] citizen [is the key].”

Some benefits are also open to children who are born to illegal immigrants. “If you were born here and the child was born here, you get money for two,” an officer at CalWORKS told the reporters. The program is similar to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program at the federal level. “Because she is not and the child is, she only gets money for the child, and not for her.”

CalWORKS allows illegal immigrant parents to get funds on behalf of their US-born kids.

Although federal law prohibits states from using federal dollars to support illegal immigrants, California created a tandem and locally funded welfare state. This is despite the fact that money is fungible, and the programs in California using both federal and state dollars would be losing out on funds that are instead going to illegal immigrants. One in four people in California are foreign-born.

Additionally, the outlet reported that cell phone providers in California were giving out "LifeLine" plans to illegal immigrants. The program gives out free smartphones and cell service to those who apply. In 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that banned the program from requiring applicants to have a Social Security number.