Can an Undocumented Immigrant File an Injury Claim in California?
- Tom Feher, Esq.
From Tom Feher, Esq. “People who are afraid of their immigration status being used against them often wait, and waiting is the one thing that actually costs them the case. California law closed that door years ago. Your status is not evidence, and it is not discoverable.”
Short answer: yes. An undocumented immigrant has the same right to bring a personal injury or wrongful death claim in California as anyone else, and can recover the same categories of damages. Since January 1, 2017, Evidence Code 351.2 has barred both evidence of and discovery into a person’s immigration status in these cases. The same two-year deadline applies.
Key Takeaways
- Status is inadmissible and undiscoverable. Evidence Code 351.2 bars immigration status from being admitted into evidence, and bars discovery into it, in any civil action for personal injury or wrongful death.
- The damages are the same. Medical expenses, lost earnings, future care, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium are all available regardless of status.
- It applies to the whole family’s claim. The statute covers wrongful death actions too, so surviving family members are protected by the same rule.
- The employment statutes are separate but parallel. Civil Code 3339, Government Code 7285, Labor Code 1171.5, and Health and Safety Code 24000 provide the same protection for labor, employment, civil rights, consumer, and housing claims.
- The clock does not pause. Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 gives two years from the injury, and fear of coming forward is not a legal reason to extend it.
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Feher Law reviews injury claims in English and in Spanish, and your immigration status is not part of the case. Call (310) 340-1112 – You pay nothing unless we win.
| Question | California answer |
|---|---|
| Can I file an injury lawsuit? | Yes. Immigration status does not affect the right to sue. |
| Can the defense ask about my status? | No. Discovery into immigration status is barred in injury and death cases. |
| Can a jury be told my status? | No. It is inadmissible under Evidence Code 351.2. |
| Can I recover lost future earnings? | Yes, and status is not evidence bearing on that calculation. |
| Can my family file if I am killed? | Yes. The same protection covers wrongful death actions. |
| Do I need a Social Security number? | No. A claim does not require one. |
The Statute That Settles It
The controlling rule is short and unusually direct. Evidence Code 351.2 provides that in a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, evidence of a person’s immigration status shall not be admitted into evidence, and discovery into a person’s immigration status shall not be permitted. It was added by Assembly Bill 2159 and took effect on January 1, 2017. Two things about the wording matter in practice. First, it blocks discovery, not just the trial: the defense cannot ask the question in a deposition or in written discovery and then argue about admissibility later. Second, it covers wrongful death as well as injury, so a family bringing a claim after a fatal crash is protected by the same sentence.
What the Law Was Before, and Why People Still Get Bad Information
The fear is not irrational, it is just out of date. Under the older rule associated with Rodriguez v. Kline (1986) 186 Cal.App.3d 1145, a defendant could raise a plaintiff’s deportability to argue that future lost earnings should be measured at the wage rate of the person’s home country rather than at California rates. That gave insurers a reason to probe status, and it gave injured people a reason to stay quiet. The 2017 statute removed the mechanism: if status cannot be discovered or admitted, it cannot be used to discount a future earnings claim in front of a jury. A great deal of material still online was written before that change, which is why people are told the opposite of what the law now says.
If a family member was killed rather than injured, the claim is a wrongful death action and the same evidentiary protection applies. Our guide to California wrongful death settlements explains who has standing to file and what the claim is worth, and our step-by-step guide to filing a California personal injury claim covers the process from first call to resolution.
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Feher Law has recovered more than $170 million for California clients, and our team handles consultations in English and in Spanish. Call (310) 340-1112 – You pay nothing unless we win.
The Parallel Protections for Work, Housing, and Civil Rights Claims
California enacted the same principle four times over in other codes, and it is worth knowing which one applies to which claim. Civil Code 3339, Government Code 7285, Labor Code 1171.5, and Health and Safety Code 24000 all declare that every protection, right, and remedy under state law is available regardless of immigration status to anyone who has applied for or held employment in California, and that status is irrelevant to liability when enforcing state labor, employment, civil rights, consumer protection, and housing laws. Those four are employment-facing; Evidence Code 351.2 is the one that governs an injury or death case. A worker hurt on a job site may be relying on both at once, one for the injury claim and one for a wage or retaliation claim.
What You Can Actually Recover
The categories do not change. Under Civil Code 3333, the measure of damages for a non-contract wrong is the amount that compensates for all the detriment proximately caused, whether or not it could have been anticipated, and that language contains no carve-out for anyone. In an ordinary negligence case the duty comes from Civil Code 1714, which makes everyone responsible for injuries caused by a want of ordinary care. So the claim includes past and future medical care, past and future lost earnings and earning capacity, pain and suffering, and, for a married plaintiff, the spouse’s separate loss of consortium claim. Emergency rooms are also required to treat you: Health and Safety Code 1317 requires licensed facilities to provide emergency services without regard to citizenship, insurance status, or ability to pay.
Deadlines, and the Practical Steps That Protect the Claim
You have two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1, and only six months to file a government claim if a city, county, or state entity is involved. Nothing about immigration status extends either clock. The practical steps are the same as in any case and matter more here because of the delay fear creates: get medical treatment and keep every record, photograph the scene and your injuries, get the police or incident report, do not give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer, and talk to a lawyer early enough that evidence still exists. If an adjuster has already called you, read what to say and what not to say when an insurance adjuster calls after a California accident.
Your Status Is Not Part of Your Case
We do not need it, the defense cannot discover it, and a jury will never hear it. What we do need is the evidence of what happened to you. Call (310) 340-1112 – You pay nothing unless we win.
What to Expect When You Work With Feher Law
- Free Case Evaluation: We review the incident, your injuries, and your treatment. We do not ask about immigration status, because it has no bearing on the claim.
- Case Investigation: We collect the scene evidence, vehicle or property data, medical records, and wage documentation that establish liability and damages.
- Protecting the Record: If the defense attempts discovery into status, we move to block it under the Evidence Code, on the record, before it reaches a deposition.
- Demand and Filing: We present a documented demand, and if the insurer will not pay full value we file suit inside the two-year deadline under CCP 335.1.
- Trial if the Number Is Wrong: Insurers price cases on whether a firm will try them. Our trial record is why our demands get answered seriously.
Why California Injury Clients Choose Feher Law
Thomas Feher, Esq. has taken more than 50 jury trials to verdict, and that trial record is what moves settlement math, because insurers pay real value to firms they know will pick a jury. The results are public: a $20.7 million brain injury verdict against a hotel defendant in July 2026, a $14.6 million verdict in Simone v. Estate of Bruce Jameson for a catastrophic spine injury, an $8.5 million recovery for a T-boned worker, and more than $170 million recovered for California clients overall. From offices in Torrance and Huntington Beach, the firm serves clients throughout Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, and Riverside County, in English and in Spanish. You pay nothing unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Last reviewed by Thomas Feher, Esq. – September 2026
