Professor Johnson Talks to KQED About Trump Administration's Threat to Cut State Funding
Professor Emeritus Kevin R. Johnson spoke to KQED for a Sept. 8 story, "Trump Administration Threatens Billions in State Welfare Funding." The article covers the Trump administration's threat to withhold federal funding to states that don't provide information to immigration authorities on every known unauthorized immigrant.
According to the story, California could lose nearly $12 billion in funding for public assistance programs.
“The risk is bigger in California because California has been willing, in exercising its legislative judgment, to provide more services and benefits to undocumented immigrants than many other states,” Johnson said. “It’s done so legally, and it’s done so without the knowledge that it might be required to share information with the federal government.”
Kevin R. Johnson is a distinguished professor of law, Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law. Johnson is the director of the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies and also has an appointment as professor of Chicana/o studies at UC Davis. He served as dean of UC Davis Law from 2008 to 2024. Johnson is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law and civil rights.