AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 19, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

95

Introduced by Assembly Member Alvarez

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Mark González, and Quirk-Silva)

February 17, 2026

An act to amend Section 679.027 of, and to add Section 679.028 to, the Penal Code, relating to victim rights.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: yes

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, as added by Proposition 9, the Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy’s Law (Marsy’s Law), at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, requires a law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and an agency prosecuting a criminal act to, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate, provide or make available to the victim a “Marsy Rights” card that contains the constitutional rights of crime victims without charge or cost to the victim. Marsy’s Law provides that its provisions shall not be amended by the Legislature except by a statute passed in each house by rollcall vote entered in the journal, ¾ of the membership of each house concurring. Marsy’s Law also provides that the Legislature may amend its provisions to expand the scope of its application, to recognize additional rights of victims of crime, or to further the rights of victims of crime by a statute passed by a majority vote of the membership of each house.

Existing law requires a law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and an agency prosecuting a criminal act to, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, inform each victim of the rights they have under applicable law relating to the victimization and provide each victim without charge or cost a “Victim Protections and Resources” card. Existing law requires the Attorney General to design and make available in PDF or other imaging format this card with specified information on the card, including information about federal immigration relief available to certain victims of crime.

Commencing no later than January 1, 2028, this bill, the Defending Immigrant Victims Act, would require a law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and an agency prosecuting a criminal act, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, to inform each victim, the victim’s next of kin if the victim is deceased, or the victim’s parent or guardian if the victim is a minor of the rights they may have under applicable law relating to immigration relief. The bill would require a law enforcement agency and a prosecuting agency to provide a victim an “Immigrant Victims Rights and Resources” card that would provide specified information pertaining to the victim’s rights, including a statement explaining how to consult an immigration attorney to help determine eligibility for immigration relief. The bill would require the Attorney General, by January 1, 2028, to design the card and make it available in English, Spanish, and any other language in which the “Marsy Rights” card is currently translated, and in a PDF or other imaging format, to law enforcement agencies and agencies prosecuting crimes, as specified.

Because this bill would result in additional duties on local law enforcement and prosecuting agencies in informing victims, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would make a conforming change.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Defending Immigrant Victims Act.

SEC. 2.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) California is home to 10,600,000 immigrants.

(2) About 1,800,000 Californians are undocumented immigrants.

(3) The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act was enacted by Congress in 2000 (Public Law 106-386) to encourage immigrants to report crimes to law enforcement by offering them legal pathways to temporary and eventually permanent legal status in the United States for victims of certain crimes who cooperate with law enforcement.

(4) Since the first U nonimmigrant status (U visa) was issued in 2009, applications have steadily increased. In 2024, there were 246,137 pending U visa applications. U visas serve as an important immigration relief option for immigrant victims who have suffered substantial harm from serious crimes.

(5) Immigrant families are facing increasing threats of deportation.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to do all of the following:

(1) Ensure undocumented immigrant victims of serious crimes in California are informed of the U visa program established by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in addition to other potential immigration relief options.

(2) Reaffirm California’s commitment to supporting immigrant victims on their journey to recovery.

(3) Improve public safety by rebuilding the relationship between local law enforcement and the public by clarifying to immigrant communities that local law enforcement does not enforce federal immigration laws in California.

(4) Encourage immigrant victims to report crimes to local law enforcement and aid law enforcement throughout their investigation to prosecute perpetrators and serve justice.

(5) Protect immigrant victims, who are seeking justice.

(6) Connect immigrant victims of crimes with low-cost, accredited, local immigration legal service providers.

SEC. 3.

Section 679.027 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

679.027.

(a) Every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosecuting a criminal act shall, as provided herein, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, inform each victim, or the victim’s next of kin if the victim is deceased, of the rights they may have under applicable law relating to the victimization, including rights relating to housing, employment, compensation, and immigration relief.

(b) (1) Every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosecuting a criminal act shall, as provided herein, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, provide or make available to each victim of the criminal act without charge or cost a “Victim Protections and Resources” card described in paragraph (3).

(2) The “Victim Protections and Resources” card may be designed as part of, and included with, the “Marsy Rights” card described by Section 679.026.

(3) By June 1, 2025, the Attorney General shall design and make available in PDF or other imaging format to every agency listed in paragraph (1) a “Victim Protections and Resources” card, which shall contain information in lay terms about victim rights and resources, including, but not limited to, the following:

(A) Information about the rights provided by Section 12945.8 of the Government Code.

(B) Information about the rights provided by Section 1946.7 of the Civil Code.

(C) Information about the rights provided by Section 1161.3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, including information in lay terms about which crimes and tenants are eligible and under what circumstances.

(D) Information about the program established by Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 13950) of Part 4 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, including information about the types of expenses the program may reimburse, eligibility, and how to apply.

(E) Information about the program established by Chapter 3.1 (commencing with Section 6205) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code.

(F) Information about eligibility for filing a restraining or protective order.

(G) Contact information for the Victims’ Legal Resource Center established by Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 13897) of Title 6 of Part 4.

(H) A list of trauma recovery centers funded by the state pursuant to Section 13963.1 of the Government Code, with their contact information, which shall be updated annually.

(I) The availability of community-based restorative justice programs and processes available to them, including programs serving their community, county, county jails, juvenile detention facilities, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

(c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2024, only if General Fund moneys over the multiyear forecasts beginning in the 2024–25 fiscal year are available to support ongoing augmentations and actions, and if an appropriation is made to backfill the Restitution Fund to support the actions in this section.

SEC. 4.

Section 679.028 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

679.028.

(a) Every Commencing no later than January 1, 2028, every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosecuting a criminal act shall, as provided in this section, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, inform each victim, the victim’s next of kin if the victim is deceased, or the victim’s parent or guardian if the victim is a minor of the rights they may have under applicable law relating to immigration relief.

(b) Every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosecuting a criminal act shall, as provided in this section, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, provide or make available to each victim, the victim’s next of kin if the victim is deceased, or the victim’s parent or guardian if the victim is a minor, without charge or cost, an “Immigrant Victims Rights and Resources” card, as described in subdivision (d).

(c) The “Immigrant Victims Rights and Resources” card may be designed as part of, and included with, the “Marsy Rights” card described by Section 679.026.

(d) By January 1, 2028, the Attorney General shall design and make available in English, Spanish, and any other language in which the “Marsy Rights” card is currently translated, a PDF or other imaging format to every agency described in subdivision (b) an “Immigrant Victims Rights and Resources” card, which shall contain information in lay terms about immigrant victims rights and resources, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(1) A statement about undocumented immigrants’ potential eligibility for immigration relief options such as a U visa, T visa, relief under VAWA, or other immigration relief as a potential victim of a qualifying crime.

(2) Notification that in order to remain eligible for a T visa or U visa, qualifying victims must remain cooperative throughout the investigation or prosecution of the perpetrator.

(3) A statement about how they can consult an immigration attorney to help determine their eligibility for immigration relief.

(4) The internet website address of the list of immigration legal services providers maintained by the State Department of Social Services.

SEC. 5.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.