
As the federal government ramps up aggressive immigration enforcement, immigrant families nationwide have reported fears of engaging in daily activities. Escalating tactics, such as deporting people without due process and rescinding limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents’ activity in “sensitive” or “protected” spaces, have meant essential routines—like taking children to school, seeking medical care—are now fraught. This reality is perhaps most stark in California.
California is home to nearly a quarter of the US immigrant population, with close to half of children in the state—most of them US citizens—having an immigrant parent. California currently limits how local and state police can cooperate with ICE and has used state funds to pass policies to provide health care supports to undocumented immigrants alongside other inclusive policies. But communities in California aren’t immune to the federal government’s sweeping immigration changes. Prominent reporting of arrests and of immigrant families and workers avoiding public spaces have emerged in recent months.
To provide insights into the concerns of California immigrant families, we surveyed adults in immigrant families in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election but before the start of the new federal administration. Here, we detail how those concerns played out even before aggressive immigration policies began.
Immigrant families worry that doing essential activities may draw unwanted attention
Even rumors of ICE’s presence have led some California immigrant families to retreat from essential activities in their communities. Many adults in immigrant families across the US were worried about immigration enforcement before the new administration began, and these concerns have persisted as it has pursued its policy agenda.
In an Urban Institute survey of nonelderly adults conducted in December 2024, 15 percent of adults in California immigrant families reported they worried about visiting a doctor’s office, clinic, or hospital because they did not want to draw attention to their or a family member’s immigration status. Sample size limitations prevented us from precisely assessing patterns for adults in mixed-status families in California, but national data show even greater levels of concern among mixed-status families.
Adults in California immigrant families also worried about going to work, talking to police, driving a car, or attending religious services and community events because of concerns about drawing attention to their immigration status. Among adults in immigrant families with children, roughly 1 in 6 worried about taking their children to school or daycare.
Beyond avoiding essential activities, our survey data showed about 12 percent of adults in California immigrant families and 14 percent of adults in California immigrant families with children reported avoiding one or more noncash government programs, such as Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program), because they were worried receiving benefits would negatively affect a family member’s future green card status.
Our survey results also showed that adults in California immigrant families were taking actions to prepare for immigration policy changes before the newly elected administration took office. Some families reported renewing their immigration status, applying for another status or citizenship, setting up a plan in case family members get deported or detained, and seeking legal advice. Likely because of the risk of separation from minor children, 18 percent of adults in California immigrant families with children reported setting up a plan in case of a family member’s deportation or detention.
Supports needed for immigrant families
Our data provide a snapshot into California immigrant families’ concerns just before the new administration took office. These concerns have likely grown in recent months and will likely persist in the months ahead, especially if proposals for increased immigration enforcement funding move forward.
Intensifying immigration enforcement imposes an emotional and economic toll on immigrant families, many of whom have been in the US for decades and have US-born children. Enforcement also does a disservice to communities where immigrants live, which will miss out on the economic and social contributions of immigrant families if they retreat further into the shadows or are deported. Below, we outline three ways immigrant families will need support during this period of heightened immigration enforcement.
Legal supports and expanded know-your-rights efforts
With increased enforcement and complex changes to immigration policies, including early terminations of humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status, robust legal assistance is needed. California has already reserved funds for legal assistance to immigrants at the state and local levels, and the state attorney general has been active in ensuring families know their rights.Many organizations have made efforts to expand know-your-rights education campaigns to help immigrants protect themselves and their families from potential violations of due process rights. However, these efforts may not be reaching all immigrants. Expanding these campaigns can improve awareness of these resources.
Mental health needs
Exposure to immigration enforcement, especially for children in immigrant families, can lead to heightened anxiety and stress and negatively affect health and well-being. California is one of the few states that has used state funding to expand its Medi-Cal program to all income-eligible noncitizens regardless of their immigration status. This coverage allows immigrants who enroll to obtain behavioral and other health services that can help them address added stresses.To help immigrants access these and other community supports, policymakers could increase resources to community-based organizations, which are highly trusted and effective in working with California immigrant communities. Medi-Cal also reimburses services provided by community health workers, and supporting these trusted partners could help connect immigrant families to needed health supports.
However, California is considering freezing new Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented adults. Additionally, broader changes to Medicaid, such as reductions to federal Medicaid funding, could lead California to deepen cuts to immigrants’ eligibility and put coverage for optional benefits at risk for all. If these reductions happen, additional support for community health centers and other health care providers who serve uninsured immigrants will be needed.Access to basic needs programs and community supports
Because of fears around heightened enforcement leading to reduced income and retraction from other essential activities, some immigrant families are likely facing difficulty meeting their basic needs. Further, fears about accessing programs that help immigrant families meet their basic needs could compound these challenges. And proposals to reduce access to tax credits and other health and nutrition assistance programs for mixed-status families could leave children in immigrant families, many of them US citizens, at even greater risk for hardship.To support access to health care, food, and other basic needs, policymakers can provide resources to trusted community-based organizations to connect immigrant families to basic needs programs for which they’re eligible and increase awareness of community mutual aid networks.
As immigration enforcement continues to escalate alongside cuts in federal funding, California and other states will need to work proactively to protect their residents’ rights and support immigrants’ continued economic and social contributions in their communities.
Let’s build a future where everyone, everywhere has the opportunity and power to thrive
Urban is more determined than ever to partner with changemakers to unlock opportunities that give people across the country a fair shot at reaching their fullest potential. Invest in Urban to power this type of work.