Illegal Alien Felons Won’t Get Taxpayer-Funded Legal Aid in California, and Activists are Fuming
July 25, 2025
Michael Capuano
Director of Research
Activists who’ve made defending immigration lawbreakers their crusade are on home turf in California. The state has become infamous in recent weeks for violent riots against immigration enforcement and radical governments defending illegal aliens who cost their taxpayers billions. The State Bar of California, which is an arm of the state’s judicial system, has sent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars annually to anti-borders nonprofits since 1999 through its “Equal Access Fund”, which funds free legal services for illegal aliens. Now, thanks to a minor positive shift away from that status quo, those radical groups are mounting a full-throated defense of the indefensible: illegal aliens with felony convictions.
In February 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill authorizing another year of funding for the Equal Access Fund. In his message to the State Senate, he (uncharacteristically) encouraged them to limit those funds so that illegal aliens “convicted of serious or violent felonies” would be excluded. The California Legislature did so in June, making sure that only illegal aliens without felony convictions could benefit from the over $57 million in taxpayer money dedicated to the Equal Access Fund in this year’s budget. Anti-borders nonprofits, which still receive plenty of taxpayer money to represent non-felonious immigration lawbreakers, are apoplectic.
Some legal aid providers were upset that, despite the governor’s suggestion regarding “serious or violent” felonies, the language of the bill excludes all convicted felons. The activist providers note that “property crimes, shoplifting, or writing a bad check” could make illegal aliens ineligible for taxpayer-funded legal aid. Doan Nguyen, a State Bar employee heading their “Office of Access & Inclusion”, deplores that theft and vandalism convictions could cut off the funds. Shouldn’t California have some compassion for the illegal aliens who break our immigration laws and then engage in check fraud, thievery or vandalism on the side?
https://www.fairus.org/blog/2025/07/25/illegal-alien-felons-california-lose-taxpayer-funded-legal-aid-activists-mad
