This post was updated May 6 at 9:36 a.m.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he is doing everything within his power to protect people without legal status at a Friday UCLA School of Law event.
The event was held at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s Lani Hall, where Bonta spoke with Ahilan Arulanantham, faculty co-director at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the School of Law. Bonta said he has brought 15 lawsuits against the Trump administration this year on California’s behalf, including challenges to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for children of noncitizens and the sharing of federal data with the Department of Government Efficiency.
Bonta has also brought a lawsuit against National Institutes of Health funding cuts at universities and research institutions, according to his website.
“The way we look at the lawsuits are twofold,” Bonta said. “One, we will sue the President any and every time he violates the law or violates the Constitution, and two, we need to have standing as states.”
Bonta said he is ready to challenge other potential actions from the Trump administration, including invoking the Alien Enemies Act, deploying the military under the Insurrection Act and withholding federal funding from sanctuary jurisdictions, which do not prosecute undocumented immigrants for violations of federal immigration laws.
“There’s no hesitancy. We are fully prepared for a whole slew of potential actions that the Trump administration may take,” Bonta said. “We’re prepared to sue.”
Arulanantham said it appears that DOGE was behind hundreds of thousands of electronic and physical statements claiming recipients had lost their rights to remain in the United States.
These statements gave notices of termination of parole, which is granted to people seeking entry into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons. The notices were sent from the Department of Homeland Security, which DOGE has announced it is working in tandem with to identify noncitizens.
Bonta said these statements may be legally actionable on a state level, but they mainly reveal that the Trump administration wants people to self-deport. He added that lawfully present people should not be swayed by such letters, as they may be veiled attempts to reach the administration’s deportation quota.
“Their goals for deportation – I don’t think that they believe they can achieve that through their own work and that they need people to self-deport in order to do it,” Bonta said. “I think people should stand on their rights. If you’re lawfully present and you get the letter, … you’re lawfully present – it’s wrong.”
Bonta added that the Trump administration’s immigration policies are overtly prejudiced.
“The Trump administration’s actions and conduct towards immigrants is racist, and it’s xenophobic,” he said. “That’s not being unfair or being political – his conduct earned it.”
California’s lawsuits against the Trump administration have been largely successful, Bonta said, with the majority resulting in preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders that have blocked the targeted policies. To receive such responses, California has to prove there is a risk of irreparable harm and the case will succeed on its merits, Bonta added.
In an interview with the Daily Bruin, Bonta said he supports international students at UCLA who had their visas revoked by the Trump administration.
The Trump administration revoked the visas of at least 19 UCLA students and recent alumni participating in the Optional Practical Training program. However, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice said the administration would reinstate the visas of students who had theirs revoked, while the federal government develops a “framework” for revocation.
[Related: Trump administration announces restoration of international students’ visas]
“I stand with all the students who were wrongly treated by the Trump administration, who were targeted,” Bonta said. “Students don’t deserve that. No one deserves that.”
Preethi Kavilikatta, a student at the UCLA School of Law, said she came to the event to learn more about her rights as an international student.
“When I came here, I was a bit worried about the situation because I don’t know what my rights really are, I don’t know if California is supporting their students,” she said. “And now, maybe it’s a bit comforting to know that you’re not really alone.”
Kavilikatta said she currently feels uncertain, especially given the significant financial investment international students make to study in the U.S. She added that international students deserve respect rather than the fear of removal.
However, Kavilikatta said she feels supported by Bonta, particularly because he expressed that he is an immigrant himself.
Bonta also said, amid a nationwide immigration crackdown, he encourages Californians to fight for what they believe in.
“There’s certain times when you’re called to do more,” Bonta said. “We need people who will fight.”
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