Ahead of Inauguration Day, Attorney General Bonta Files Legal Action to Defend Dreamers’ Access to Healthcare

With incoming Trump Administration expected to withdraw support, California seeks to intervene to defend healthcare access from legal challenge

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, as part of a multistate coalition, filed a motion to intervene in defense of a rule expanding healthcare access for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients – or Dreamers – by making them eligible to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) insurance marketplace. According to the UC Berkeley Labor Center, the rule makes approximately 40,000 uninsured Dreamers in California eligible for subsidized health coverage through the state’s healthcare exchange, Covered California. Almost 2,000 formerly uninsured California DACA recipients have already signed up for coverage under the rule. The motion to intervene comes as the incoming Trump Administration is expected to halt federal efforts to defend the rule from a challenge by a Kansas-led coalition. 

“At California DOJ, we are committed to ensuring that every Californian has access to high-quality and affordable healthcare, regardless of their immigration status,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Nearly 30% of all DACA recipients reside in California – more than any other state in the country. As the incoming Trump Administration stokes fear and anxiety among California’s immigrant communities with his hateful rhetoric and promises of mass deportation, know that my office has your back, and we are ready to defend this vital rule in court if the Trump Administration, as we expect, withdraws its support.”

Dreamers arrived in the United States as young children and often know no other country as home. Over decades, they have built lives and jobs for themselves and their loved ones, had children of their own, and contributed billions in federal, state, and local taxes to fund essential services and programs. Around 150,000 Dreamers call California home, paying more than $2.1 billion in federal taxes and $1 billion in state and local taxes each year, according to the Center for American Progress. 

The final rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services clarifies the definition of “lawfully present” individuals for the purposes of the ACA, making Dreamers and other immigrants with work authorizations eligible to enroll in health insurance through ACA exchanges, such as Covered California. Prior to the rule, DACA beneficiaries were the only deferred action recipients who were barred from enrolling in health insurance through the ACA exchanges.

President-elect Trump criticized the rule during his 2024 campaign, and his previous administration sought to rescind both DACA and the ACA, efforts which were stymied in court thanks to litigation by the California Department of Justice and others. In today’s motion, the states explain that they have a right to step in where the federal government will stop defending this critical policy.

The motion to intervene is part of the Attorney General’s ongoing commitment to protect California’s Dreamers. In June 2023, Attorney General Bonta joined a multistate coalition in comments supporting the proposed rule, and in October 2024, he filed an amicus brief defending the final rule as a lawful expansion of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage. Attorney General Bonta also co-led a multistate coalition in filing an amicus brief opposing an ongoing, misguided effort led by Texas to end the DACA program.

In filing the motion to intervene, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and Vermont.

A copy of the motion can be found here.