New California immigration laws 2026 cover rights, student protections

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LOS ANGELES - In 2026, California is enacting a series of laws designed to regulate how federal immigration enforcement operates within the state, focusing on transparency and protected spaces.

These measures were passed in direct response to a surge in federal enforcement actions throughout 2025, including high-profile raids across the state. 

While state officials describe these laws as necessary "guardrails" to protect public safety and civil rights, they have also sparked a jurisdictional debate, as the federal government maintains that immigration enforcement remains under its sole authority.

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Here's a roundup of new immigration-related laws going into effect next year.

SB 307: College Students Impacted by Enforcement

Under this bill, California State University leaders are mandated to adopt a systemwide policy for grades, dropping classes, and re-enrollment for undocumented students unable to attend their courses because of immigration enforcement activity. The bill also requests University of California adopt a similar approach.

SB 81: Protecting Immigrant Patients' Rights

The bill prohibits immigration enforcement agents from entering nonpublic areas of a facility without a valid judicial warrant or court order. 

It also protects patient information by barring the disclosure of a person’s current ory past immigration status or place of birth for purposes related to immigration enforcement.

SB 580: Directive for State, Local Agencies in Interactions with Authorities

The bill requires the California Attorney General to publish model policies on interacting with immigration authorities, and state and local agencies must either adopt them or create similar policies by 2027.

AB 495: Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025

This law creates a joint guardianship of a minor between a parent and the person a parent designates.

It also requires the Attorney General to publish model policies limiting assistance with immigration enforcement at daycare facilities and state preschool programs, the latter of which must adopt those policies or equivalent policies no later than July 1, 2026.

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SB 98: Notification and Protection for Educational Institutions

The bill requires schools and higher education institutions to send community notifications when immigration enforcement is on campus, and prohibits immigration enforcement from entering certain areas without a judicial warrant or court order.

AB 49: Protecting Immigrant Children

This bill prohibits schools from allowing immigration enforcement officers on campus without a warrant.  

The bill would require school officials and employees to request valid identification of any officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement seeking to enter a nonpublic area of a school campus.

The bill would also prohibit a local educational agency and its personnel from disclosing or providing, in writing, verbally, or in any other manner, the education records of or any information about a pupil or a pupil’s family and household without the pupil’s parents’ or guardians’ written consent, a school employee, or a teacher to an officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement without a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena, or court order directing the local educational agency or its personnel to do so.

AB 419: Students' Rights to Education, Regardless of Immigration Status

Information about a child's right to free public education, regardless of immigration status, will be posted by school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools in administrative buildings, online, and at schools. It will include information related to the Immigration-Enforcement Actions at California Schools Guide for Students and Families.

SB 294: Workplace ‘Know Your Rights’ Act

Starting Feb. 1, 2026, employers are mandated to post a state agency poster and provide a stand-alone written notice to each employee addressing independent contractor misclassification protections, heat illness prevention, workers’ compensation, paid sick days, protections against unfair immigration-related practices, and more. The bill requires employers to notify an employee’s emergency contact in the event the employee is arrested or detained while at work.