California weighs handing out phone subsidies to illegal immigrants

California could become the first state in the nation to distribute phone discounts to illegal immigrants .

The California Public Utilities Commission is considering eliminating the requirement that residents provide a Social Security number to qualify for California LifeLine , the gov ernment-run program that gives phone subsidies to low-income residents.

Expanding California LifeLine to include undocumented immigrants would bring an additional roughly 2 million residents under the program's umbrella. The share of California households with an illegal immigrant was 8% and made up 7% of the workforce in 2022, according to the Pew Research Center.

The agency will vote on the proposal on Sept. 26.

“If an undocumented Californian falls on hard times, they should benefit from this program, just like every other Californian,” CPUC President Alice Reynolds told Politico.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) tapped Reynolds to head the CPUC in 2021. Though she is a Newsom appointee, the governor is not necessarily on board with her latest proposal.

With a tight presidential race shaping up between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the governor has warned his colleagues in the Golden State to avoid contentious matters that could detract from a winning message this November.

Expanding the CPUC's program to illegal immigrants could very well be one of those matters. The record level of illegal immigration is a message Trump uses to strike a deep 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 depleting resources for U.S. citizens.

While the CPUC president and her allies claim that expanding California LifeLine is a matter of fairness, arguing that undocumented immigrants paying into the system should benefit from it, some Republicans in the state echo Trump's message. They worry that many newcomers to the United States will take advantage of the subsidies 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,”  Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle told the outlet. “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.”

“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.” @politico https://t.co/HJklRTyWGm

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

“This is just another item in a long list of free taxpayer giveaways for illegal immigrants who don’t even have to prove they’ve paid into the system," Jones said. "Once again, California is sending a message to the rest of the world to come here illegally and receive their free gift. This time, it’s discounted phones."

The top Republican in the Golden State's upper chamber, Jones is already attaching the CPUC's agenda to a Harris administration.

"If Newsom’s PUC moves forward with this plan, Americans should be very concerned about a Harris-Walz administration taking this policy nationwide," he said.

It remains unclear whether Newsom will choose to shelve the CPUC’s new measure expanding subsidies to undocumented immigrants or if he will press ahead, even though it could give Republicans arrows in their quiver to shoot against Democrats ahead of Election Day.

Earlier this year, he chose to charge ahead with support for controversial legislation making it a crime for schools to provide parents information related to a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Newsom invited loud condemnation from Republicans after he signed the bill into law this summer.

“School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents do have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school,” a Liberty Justice Center press release reads . The conservative nonprofit organization 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."

However, Newsom signed the controversial measure into law before Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket. The vice president spent years as an elected official in the state, and the Trump campaign has used her career as fodder for attack. With all eyes on Newsom's long-time colleague and her home state, the governor could be more averse to supporting the CPUC's measure than he might have been just months ago.

In the meantime, state Republicans are warning him against it.

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"Californians are struggling with some of the highest costs in the country, and Democrats keep finding ways to pile on even more. Somebody has to pay for all these giveaways - and Californians who can least afford it are the ones getting stuck with the bill," California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher said.

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