California lawmakers are entering 2026 with a renewed, sharpened focus on limiting the reach of federal immigration enforcement—and they’re doing it through taxes, lawsuits, and a sweeping set of new legislative tools. While the national conversation around immigration has grown more polarized, Sacramento is moving in the opposite direction: doubling down on a model that treats ICE as an overreaching federal force that must be constrained, monitored, and, where possible, blocked. A new CalMatters report outlines just how far Democratic legislators are prepared to go this year, and the agenda is one of the most aggressive anti‑ICE efforts the state has ever attempted.
A New Strategy: Regulate ICE by Regulating Its Partners
One of the most striking shifts in 2026 is California’s move to target the ecosystem around ICE, not just ICE itself. State lawmakers are exploring: 1. Tax penalties on private companies that contract with ICE 2. Legal exposure for local governments that voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration raids 3. Restrictions on data‑sharing between state agencies and federal immigration authorities. This approach reflects a growing belief in Sacramento that ICE’s power doesn’t come only from federal law — it comes from the network of local and private entities that enable it. Cut off the support system, and ICE’s cold tendrils within California melts away.
Source: CalMatters
