The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just intervened to stop California from doling out certain federal benefits to illegal aliens.
The benefits were being doled out through the federal Lifeline program, which “provides low-income Americans with a discount on their phone and Internet services,” according to the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.
The problem is that years ago, the FCC allowed California Democrats to opt their state out of the feds’ eligibility verification process and run their own crony verification process.
More recently, far-left California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that now prohibits “California from collecting social security numbers (which could be used to ensure that program participants are legal residents) and from sharing data with the federal government.”
“California govt is considering a plan to subsidize home & cell phone bills for illegal immigrants.
The proposal would eliminate requiring social security numbers for the California LifeLine program, which provides phone bill discounts for low-income..”https://t.co/PEn9raiOnl
— CCBee (@SeaSeaBee) September 12, 2024
Republicans were not pleased by the governor’s move.
Sen. Ted Cruz wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that the new legislation “likely violates federal law,” as reported by The Orange County Register.
He further called the legislation “the latest in a series of measures by Democrat-run jurisdictions that not only incentivize illegal entry into the United States but also obstruct the lawful operations of federal immigration authorities.”
He concluded his letter by asking Bondi and FCC chairman Brendan Carr to investigate and “ensure the California law complies with federal law in order to restore transparency and ensure taxpayer dollars are not misused to subsidize and encourage illegal immigration.”
Fast-forward to Thursday, when the FCC finally intervened to stop the shenanigans by revoking California’s “opt-out” status.
“The FCC has an obligation to ensure that federal dollars go to their intended recipients and are not siphoned off by waste, fraud, and abuse,” Carr said in a lengthy statement. “Unfortunately, Governor Newsom recently signed legislation that makes it impossible for the FCC to continue trusting California’s process for determining eligibility for federal Lifeline dollars.”
“The new California law apparently prohibits the state from requiring the collection of social security numbers, which could be used to ensure that
program recipients are legal residents, and from sharing relevant information with federal agencies. These changes in law come on the heels of California making it clear that they will not be vetting beneficiaries of their programs based on legal status,” he added.
“California also has a bad track record of complying with federal Lifeline program rules. Therefore, the FCC is revoking California’s ‘opt-out’ status and will now require federal Lifeline applicants in California to comply with the federal verification process that applies in nearly every other state. Federal dollars should not pay for California’s abuse of the Lifeline program,” he continued.
NEW: The FCC is stopping California’s misuse of federal dollars.
California is all for sending your taxpayers dollars to people here illegally.
And Governor Newsom recently signed a bill that makes it effectively impossible for the FCC to ensure that the federal Lifeline… pic.twitter.com/peBcUuqTVq
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) November 20, 2025
According to the Benton Institute, the new guidelines instituted by Carr require all Californians applying for the Lifeline program to pass through the federal government’s “National Verifier” system.
In addition, “[p]hone and internet companies in California must switch to federal processes for enrolling customers in Lifeline,” and “[t]he federal system will handle checking whether people qualify and preventing duplicate benefits.”
The only catch is that the FCC’s decision only applies to the federal Lifeline program. California, in fact, boasts its own Lifeline program, so if it wants to give benefits out to illegals, it still can — but with its own state money, not federal money.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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