Governor signs laws assigning half for state’s justice department and half for legal groups defending immigrants

Gavin Newsom, the California governor, signed laws on Friday setting aside $50m to help the state protect its policies from challenges by the Trump administration and defend immigrants amid the president’s mass-deportation plans.

One of the laws allocates $25m for the state’s department of justice to fight legal battles against the federal government, and another sets aside $25m in part for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation. During his first presidency, Trump sparred with California over climate laws, water policy, immigrant rights and more, and the state filed or joined more than 100 legal actions against the administration. The same fights are re-emerging in the early days of Trump’s second term.

The headline on this article was amended on 8 February 2025 to clarify that California now has $50m both for legal battles against the federal government and for legal groups defending immigrants facing possible deportation, not solely for the latter.