Your immigration status does not come up in a California personal injury case. State law, Evidence Code 351.2, makes a person’s immigration status inadmissible in a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, and bars discovery into it. You can bring a claim, settle it, or take it to a jury regardless of status, and the defense cannot ask about it, argue about it, or use it to reduce your recovery. The insurer pays an undocumented person for a broken leg the same as anyone else.
What decides whether status becomes a problem in practice is the lost wages claim. The statute shuts the door on status itself, but a claim for lost earnings opens questions about where you worked, what you were paid, and whether the records exist. A worker paid in cash with no filed tax returns has a harder time proving income, not because of status but because of documentation. A lawyer handling these cases builds the wage claim from what can be shown, such as employer letters, bank deposits, and testimony, and keeps the status question where the statute puts it, which is out of the case.
Can immigration status be used against me in a personal injury case?
No. Evidence Code 351.2, in effect since 2017, makes immigration status inadmissible in any California civil case for personal injury or wrongful death and prohibits discovery into it. The defense cannot ask you about it in a deposition, in written questions, or at trial. Your right to recover medical expenses, lost income and pain and suffering does not depend on status. The rule was passed to stop insurers from using the threat of exposure to force low settlements.
What the statute does
Before 2017 some defense lawyers would ask about status in a deposition, not because it affected the facts of a crash, but because the question itself was frightening enough to end the case cheaply. The Legislature responded with Evidence Code 351.2. It states that in a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, evidence of a person’s immigration status shall not be admitted, and no discovery about status shall be permitted. The rule applies to the injured person, to witnesses, and to family members bringing a wrongful death claim.
The same policy appears in Civil Code 3339, which provides that all protections and remedies available under state law are available to every individual regardless of immigration status, except where federal law requires otherwise.
If a defense attorney asks about status in a deposition, your attorney objects and instructs you not to answer. If the question appears in written discovery, it is objected to and not answered. Courts enforce this.
What status does not change
It does not change fault. A driver who ran a stop sign in Van Nuys is at fault whether the person he hit was born in Burbank or Guadalajara. It does not change the value of medical bills, which are measured by what was paid or owed. It does not change pain and suffering. It does not change the at-fault driver’s policy limits. And it does not change your ability to receive the settlement; a settlement check is paid to you through your attorney’s trust account, and no immigration question is asked.
The lost wages question
Here is the one place where care is needed. Lost income is part of an injury claim, and proving it requires showing what you earned. For a worker with pay stubs and tax returns, that is simple. For a worker paid in cash, it is done with an employer’s letter or testimony, records of regular deposits, and your own testimony about hours and rate.
Occasionally a defense attorney argues that a worker without authorization cannot claim future lost earnings at U.S. rates. That argument has been rejected in California for purposes of the injury case. Future earnings are evaluated on the same basis as anyone else’s, and status is not part of the calculation.
What a lawyer avoids is a wage claim that cannot be supported. If the documentation is thin, the claim is sized to what the evidence shows, so the defense cannot use a weak wage claim to attack the rest of the case.
What the insurer may try
Adjusters know the rule, and most follow it. Some still ask for a Social Security number as a routine part of a claim form or a medical lien. You do not have to provide one to make an injury claim. An ITIN or no number at all is workable. If an adjuster hints that a claim will be “complicated” because of status, that is a tactic, and it is answered by an attorney’s letter citing the statute.
In a filed case, the defense can request medical records, employment records and tax records relevant to your claim. Your attorney limits those requests to what the case puts at issue, and status is never one of those things.
What to do now
Treat the case like any other injury claim. Get medical care, keep records, and do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. Tell your attorney about any concern you have so it can be addressed before anything is produced in discovery. Use your health insurance or Medi-Cal for treatment if you have it; the lien is handled at settlement. If you have no coverage, treatment on a lien basis is available and your attorney can arrange it.
Common mistakes
Not making a claim at all out of fear. Providing a Social Security number that is not yours on a claim form, which creates a credibility problem unrelated to status. Avoiding medical treatment because of worry about records. Settling for a small amount quickly because an adjuster suggested the case was complicated. And not telling your own lawyer, who is the one person who needs to know.
Questions people ask next
Can I recover if I don’t have a driver’s license? Yes. Driving without a license is not fault for a crash, and the other driver’s duty is the same.
Will a settlement affect an immigration application? A personal injury settlement is compensation for an injury, not public benefits, and it is not taxable income for a physical injury. Consult an immigration attorney about your specific application.
What if I am a witness, not the injured person? The statute protects witnesses the same way. Status is not admissible and not discoverable.
Manoukian Law Firm handles personal injury cases throughout Los Angeles County for clients regardless of immigration status, and the attorney, Vaheh Manoukian, handles each case personally. If you were hurt and have been worried about whether you can make a claim, call (818) 818-5031 for a free consultation.
