In a significant shift from anti-immigrant policies of the 1990s, California now leads the nation in helping undocumented residents — issuing drivers’ licenses, protections from deportation, COVID-19 pandemic relief, health care and, most recently, food assistance.
These wins coincide with the Latino community exploding to 40% of the state population, and speaks to the growing influence of the representatives representing them over the last 10 years.
In that time, the California Latino Legislative Caucus — a group that only welcomes Democrats — has championed policies at a more successful rate than the Legislature average and reshaped how the state treats its undocumented immigrants.
An analysis of the group’s priority legislation — an annual set of bills members vote to support — shows that the caucus turns its bills into laws 54% of the time.
Members have pushed forward groundbreaking policies to expand health care access for all undocumented immigrants, create an ethnic studies requirement to graduate high school and provide farmworkers with first-in-the-nation overtime provisions. Other successful legislation has reached beyond the Latino community, including increasing sick days for all California workers and addressing climate policy.
But these high-profile wins haven’t been easy nor without criticism.
They’ve often required multi-year efforts, fueled by Latino leaders who came of age during an anti-immigrant policy effort in the 1990s. These leaders played a long-game in progressively advancing Democratic policies during former Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration that Gov. Gavin Newsom later signed into law.
“We are leading the nation, and it’s because of the Latino Legislative Caucus that we are where we are at,” said Angelica Salas, executive director for the Los Angeles-based Coalition For Humane Immigrant Rights. “No other state can say that.”
While the caucus has occasionally fallen short of its goals, its work since 2014 reveals a largely successful campaign of passing legislation focused on immigrant rights, economic mobility and access to education. From 2014 to 2023, the caucus introduced 136 priorities. Of those, 74 were enacted and another 17 reached the governor’s desk but were vetoed.
That is a higher rate of lawmaking when compared to the annual numbers of the entire Legislature.
Out of the roughly 2,300 bills put forth each year, about 35% to 40% become law, according to Chris Micheli, an adjunct professor at the McGeorge School of Law at University of the Pacific and longtime Sacramento lobbyist.
The caucus’ rate of implementing legislation was not surprising to Micheli and Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University.
Both experts said it reflects the group’s rising clout in Sacramento. The caucus was half its size just 15 years ago.
The group, now at a record 35 members, makes up nearly 30% of the Legislature and an increasing number of the leadership roles. The first Latino Assembly speaker in California history was chosen in 1996. Six Latino speakers have followed since then.
“There’s always representation to push these types of bills and the eventual success,” Guerra said.
‘Defined by those moments’
Former Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, who joined the Legislature and caucus in 2012, recalls a time when California wasn’t so welcoming to its undocumented residents.
In 1994, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 187, a ballot initiative to deny public benefits to undocumented residents. Legal challenges prevented the law from taking effect, but it still inspired young Latinos, like Garcia, to get involved in politics.
Garcia protested against Prop. 187 as a high school senior. She participated in a school walkout on Interstate 5, which runs through Los Angeles, with her undocumented father in mind.
“A lot of us are defined by those moments,” said Garcia, referencing the number of Latino legislators who have since joined the Legislature.
Write a Reply or Comment
You should Sign In or Sign Up account to post comment.