In Sacramento, on January 29, 2026, AB 1655 was introduced to protect the social safety benefits of California families who have their children unjustly detained by ICE. This bill is sponsored by Service Employees International Union (SEIU,) and was introduced by the 55th District Assembly member, Isaac Bryan, who stated “Families across California are struggling and there is no reason they should lose essential survival resources because ICE has targeted and kidnapped their children.”
The text of AB 1655 includes “Under this bill, a child or other member of the assistance unit who is unlawfully detained in a federal immigration detention facility would be considered temporarily absent from the home for the duration of the detention. Under the bill, the member would be deemed to be unlawfully detained if a report of misconduct by federal agents is submitted to the California Attorney General. The bill would require a county human services agency, upon request, to provide assistance to an applicant or recipient household with submitting that report.”
At this point in time, we do not have access to an accurate number of children who have been abducted, but estimates are in the hundreds. Losing a member of the household currently impacts the ability to claim social safety benefits.
The proposed legislation also states “Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of the bill.”
To become law, the bill must go through two committee readings and two chamber approvals – State Assembly and State Senate – and then be signed by the governor.
Judith Martin-Straw
