California considers first-in-the-nation phone discounts for undocumented immigrants
SACRAMENTO, California — California is weighing a first-in-the-nation proposal that would grant some undocumented immigrants access to a government-run phone bill discount program. But the timing is a bit awkward.
The proposal, scheduled for an agency vote Sept. 26, would see the state eliminate social security numbers as a requirement for California LifeLine, a program that subsidizes phone bill discounts for low-income residents. California’s Public Utilities Commission agreed to drop the requirement 10 years ago but never did.
“If an undocumented Californian falls on hard times, they should benefit from this program, just like every other Californian,” said utilities commission President Alice Reynolds.
Yet the vote comes as many national Democrats — including Vice President Kamala Harris — have tacked right on immigration and border security to neutralize a political weakness that Republicans and former President Donald Trump have tried to exploit as Election Day approaches.
Gov. Gavin Newsom over the past year has repeatedly warned California's Democratic Legislature not to provide cannon fire for Republicans in an election year, issuing pleas for them to tread carefully on hot-button issues like youth tackle football bans.
Trump has attempted to associate Harris with her home state’s liberal approach on issues like crime, even though Harris has not held statewide office in California since 2020.
"Unlike Kamala Harris, President Trump does not believe illegal immigrants should be receiving discounts or benefits,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told POLITICO. “Only hardworking American citizens who are struggling in this unaffordable economy should receive such help.”
Harris managed to keep the spotlight off California during Tuesday’s debate by staying on offense, agitating Trump on sore spots like crowd sizes. She escaped relatively unscathed on immigration, managing to tout her past efforts to prosecute transnational gangs as California’s attorney general while Trump repeated false claims that Haitian immigrants in Ohio have eaten household pets.
That doesn’t mean Newsom’s message is getting through to Democrats back in Sacramento. State lawmakers have continued to embrace policies that grant undocumented immigrants access to government resources, with lawmakers last month passing bills that would give immigrants access to student jobs on college campuses and home loan assistance.
Newsom vetoed the home loan assistance bill last week, deeming the program’s expansion “unnecessary” in a year when the state is short on cash.
Reynolds and advocacy groups insist the utilities commission’s proposal to make undocumented immigrants eligible for phone bill discounts is about fairness, not politics. Lifeline subsidies are funded through a surcharge on state residents’ monthly phone bills, which means undocumented immigrants with an existing phone line are currently financing a benefit they can’t use.
Ashley Salas, an attorney with independent consumer advocacy nonprofit The Utility Reform Network, framed it as a public safety issue: “If someone without a social security number that’s low-income sees a wildfire, and they can’t call 911, that hurts everyone in the community.”
But some conservatives are still skeptical. State Sen. Brian Dahle, a Republican who represents a mostly rural district in northeastern California, said he worried undocumented immigrants who recently came to the U.S. could sign up for LifeLine discounts without having previously contributed to the program.
“If you’re down on your luck and we want to give you a hand up, not a handout, I’m for it,” Dahle said. “But to just continue to strap the everyday taxpayer with giving away assistance to people who haven’t paid into the system? I’m opposed.”
California LifeLine offers low-income state residents participating in the program up to $19 off their monthly cell service, up to $39 off a phone service connection and exemptions from some state, federal and local fees. California's program is offered alongside a federal LifeLine discount that offers customers up to an additional $9.25 off their monthly bill.
Undocumented immigrants applying for LifeLine would still need to provide another form of identification, like a foreign passport or a driver’s license.
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this report misstated when the utilities commission wold vote on proposed changes to California Lifeline. The vote was delayed to Sept. 26.
