California Policy and Politics Friday

Dry, windy weekend heightens California’s wildfire risks, triggering power shutoffs for thousands -- Pacific Gas & Electric, the state’s largest utility, turned off power to almost 7,000 customers in Central and Northern California on Friday “due to severe weather and wildfire risk,” continuing shutoffs that began Thursday and were expected to continue through the weekend, PG&E wrote in an update. Grace Toohey in the Los Angeles Times$ Daniel Hunt in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 06/20/25

Trump can command National Guard as California’s legal challenge moves forward, appeals court says -- The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided Thursday to leave troops in Los Angeles in the hands of the Trump administration while California’s objections are litigated in federal court, finding the president had broad — though not “unreviewable” — authority to deploy the military in American cities. Sonja Sharp in the Los Angeles Times$ Mikhail Zinshteyn Calmatters Charlie Savage and Laurel Rosenhall in the New York Times$ Perry Stein in the Washington Post$ Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney Politico Jess Bravin and Brent Kendall in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 06/20/25

Fuel firms can challenge California’s emission limits, supreme court rules -- Fossil fuel companies are able to challenge California’s ability to set stricter standards reducing the amount of polluting coming from cars, the US supreme court has ruled in a case that is set to unravel one of the key tools used to curb planet-heating emissions in recent years. Oliver Milman The Guardian Andrew Chung Reuters Adam Liptak in the New York Times$ David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Half-mile drug-smuggling tunnel connecting Tijuana to San Diego shut down by Border Patrol -- Border Patrol agents shut down the construction of a 2,918-foot-long tunnel connecting Tijuana and San Diego with the aid of Department of Homeland Security officials and Mexican authorities. Andrew J. Campa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

America’s largest Iranian diaspora is at a crossroads -- For Southern California’s Iranian diaspora, the nation’s largest, the fast-moving conflict represents a critical moment for a politically and culturally diverse community that hasn’t always gravitated to American political debates, or done so as a coherent bloc. Emily Schultheis Politico -- 06/20/25

 

From save our state to sanctuary, California’s immigration views have shifted dramatically -- In just a single generation, the political clout immigrants hold in California has soared. So have the legal protections afforded even to those immigrants who are unauthorized to live here. Ben Christopher and Mikhail Zinshteyn Calmatters -- 06/20/25

Unsanitary, overcrowded and inhumane: Surge of new detainees at Adelanto brings dire conditions, critics say -- As federal immigration agents conduct mass raids across Southern California, the Adelanto ICE Processing Center is filling so rapidly it is reigniting longtime concerns about safety conditions inside the facility. Jenny Jarvie and Nathan Solis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Vance to visit Los Angeles on Friday amid tension over ICE raids -- Vance will “tour a multi-agency Federal Joint Operations Center, a Federal Mobile Command Center, meet with leadership and Marines, and deliver brief remarks,” according to a readout of the vice president’s travel plans. Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing Politico -- 06/20/25

In Southern California, many are skipping healthcare out of fear of ICE operations -- Missed childhood vaccinations. Skipped blood sugar checks. Medications abandoned at the pharmacy. These are among the healthcare disruptions providers have noticed since Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations began in Southern California earlier this month. Corinne Purtill in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

New immigration crackdown sparks fear among public transit riders. Ridership has dropped up to 15% -- In an incident in Pasadena witnessed and videotaped by several residents, immigration officials took away several people waiting at a bus stop, raising the fear that public transit is being targeted for immigration raids. Christopher Buchanan, Colleen Shalby, Hannah Fry, Luke Johnson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Federal agents denied entry to Dodger Stadium parking lot, sparking new outrage over Trump sweeps -- A line of unmarked white vans and SUVs at Dodger Stadium sparked a wave of speculation online about immigration enforcement at the stadium Thursday, but team officials say the agents were denied entry. Terry Castleman and Jack Harris in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

What should you do when ICE comes to the ballpark? Bay Area teams are already preparing -- Bay Area sports teams are quietly — very quietly — bracing for the increasing probability that ICE will show up and knock down the invisible wall that shields sports from real-world political turmoil and fear. Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 06/20/25

California police investigating ICE raid, seeking identity, affiliation of man who pointed gun at bystanders -- The Pasadena Police Department is actively investigating an ICE raid that took place Wednesday morning in their city involving a man in dark clothing wearing a mask who got out of his unmarked car in a busy intersection and pointed a gun at protesters gathered on the sidewalk. Steve Scauzillo in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 06/20/25

Chabria: Secret police have no place in L.A. or democracy. But here they are -- Federal authorities are increasingly hiding their identities, refusing to answer basic questions about their affiliations and deceiving the public to make arrests. Anita Chabria in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

What did Sen. Alex Padilla get handcuffed for? -- Last week, a Democratic senator walked into a news conference with questions. He left in handcuffs. “Is this really happening?” Alex Padilla thought to himself. Jesús Rodríguez and Sabrina Rodriguez in the Washington Post$ -- 06/20/25

ICE issued new rules for Congress members visiting detention centers. Experts say they’re illegal -- The day after immigration raids began in Los Angeles, Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) and three other members of Congress were denied entry to the immigrant detention facility inside the Roybal Federal Building. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Fact Check: What happens to undocumented immigrants arrested or convicted of crimes in California -- As the wave of immigration sweeps across Southern California shows no signs of letting up, are undocumented immigrants who have been arrested, jailed and charged with unrelated state crimes suddenly at increased risk of ending up in federal custody? Sean Emery in the Orange County Register$ -- 06/20/25

Former manager of El Cajon company pleads guilty to hiring undocumented workers, gets no jail time -- John Washburn, the former general manager of San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings, was sentenced to one year of unsupervised release but will do no jail time as part of a plea agreement, according to court records. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

An ICE raid at a Home Depot in Hollywood shatters an immigrant refuge -- Immigration agents arrest dozens around Home Depot in Hollywood, shattering the lives of the vendors and their families who created a makeshift community there. Brittny Mejia and Rachel Uranga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

About 75 migrants arrested in Thermal as feds sweep illegal cannabis operation -- An investigation continued Thursday into the arrests of about 75 undocumented migrants in connection to an alleged large-scale illegal marijuana operation in Thermal. The Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Division said it led a multi-agency effort to seize more than 700 acres of marijuana on Wednesday. The item is in the Orange County Register$ -- 06/20/25

ICE flights out of L.A. area more than doubled in the last month -- Flights out of Los Angeles area airports related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations more than doubled in the month before Sunday. ICE increased its activity in the region this month, conducting multiple raids, including one on June 6 in the Fashion District. Vanessa Martínez and Sandhya Kambhampati in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Faith leaders come together to defend immigrant communities amid federal raids -- More than a dozen religious leaders from an array of faiths marched to the steps of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday night, flowers in hand, calling for an end to the federal immigration raids they say have torn families apart and resulted in racial profiling. Melissa Gomez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Karen Bass in hot seat as Trump targets Los Angeles – but it’s not her first crisis -- The mayor – a community organizer at the time of the 1992 LA uprising – has won praise for her response to Trump’s immigration raids, the latest flashpoint in her term. Lois Beckett The Guardian -- 06/20/25

Tensions flare as agents arrest another U.S. citizen for interfering in immigration arrests -- A 20-year-old Walmart employee, Adrian Martinez, was returning from break on Tuesday when he saw Border Patrol agents taking a worker cleaning the shopping center parking lot in Pico Rivera. Rachel Uranga and Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Lopez: My theory for why Trump’s agents targeted Dodger Stadium and Winchell’s Donut House -- Roughly a quarter of the players in Major League Baseball are from outside the country. Those foreigners have visas, as I understand it, but these days, the Trump administration has made clear that temporary protected legal status is no guarantee against ejection. Not from a game, but from the country. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Workplace

These are the college majors that lead to the best-paying jobs for UC and CSU graduates -- Fields of study and campuses that yield the highest median annual earnings after graduation among UC and CSU undergraduate alumni working in California. Nami Sumida in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 06/20/25

Time running out on prison jobs for disabled workers in SEIU dispute -- A little more than two dozen disabled people, including veterans, who work as janitors at a state prison facility in Vacaville are poised to lose their jobs at the end of this month due to a protest lodged by the Service Employees International Union Local 1000. Brian Joseph Capitol Weekly -- 06/19/25

Environment

A forest the size of North America would be needed to offset Big Oil’s reserves, study finds -- A study published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment analyzed the economic and ecological benefits of planting trees as a means of balancing potential carbon dioxide emissions from the projected burning of oil reserves held by the fossil fuel industry. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Plastic bag bans seem to work, at least when it comes to shoreline pollution -- Researchers find that nationwide policies to ban plastic bags may be paying off, with fewer showing up during coastal cleanups. Niamh Ordner in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

After Disaster

When Towns Rebuild From Disaster, Some Get Priced Out -- In Panama City, Fla., and Paradise, Calif., money poured in after natural disasters, squeezing some residents out. The dynamic is repeating across the U.S. Arian Campo-Flores, Cameron McWhirter and Paul Overberg in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 06/20/25

Price-gouging charges slowly mount after the fires, but some say it’s not enough -- City and state officials have filed a handful price-gouging lawsuits against real estate agents, landlords and a large rental company, but critics say they must do more. Jack Flemming in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

L.A. needs new authority to oversee rebuilding after firestorms, panel says -- An independent commission is urging the California Legislature to establish a new local authority to oversee and coordinate rebuilding after the most destructive fires in Los Angeles County history. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Insurance

This California city has one of nation’s worst home insurance trajectories, report finds -- The cost of home insurance is rising at a much faster pace than the income of homeowners themselves, especially in Sacramento, according to new research from Zillow. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 06/20/25

Education

As White House wavers on visas, Chinese students at California colleges face uncertainty and worried parents -- A flurry of at-times contradictory White House pronouncements are stoking confusion and concern among the 50,000 Chinese nationals who are studying at California’s colleges and universities — and potentially steering students away from further work and study in the U.S. Amy DiPierro EdSource -- 06/20/25

Also

How GOP’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ could blow a $286M hole in San Diego County’s budget -- Democratic supervisors warn the Trump-backed spending bill would curb access to health care and food for low-income San Diegans, and that the county will need new revenue sources to keep it intact. Lucas Robinson in the San Diego Union Tribune$ -- 06/20/25

New report details final minutes of flight that killed rock drummer and 5 others in San Diego -- The private jet that crashed last month in San Diego, killing all six on board, was flying too low before it hit power lines and slammed into a house, investigators said Wednesday. Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

Bay Area celebrates Juneteenth as Trump snubs the holiday -- Hundreds enjoyed live music, food and drinks at the Hella Juneteenth Festival at the Oakland Museum of California, where the mood was celebratory and upbeat, with many acknowledging the added significance of the celebration this year amid protests against the Trump administration. Catherine Ho, Roland Li in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 06/20/25

Marijuana’s Links to Heart Attack and Stroke Are Becoming Clearer -- While most Americans consider marijuana safe, new research published this week found that use of the drug is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart attack, including among younger adults. Simar Bajaj in the New York Times$ -- 06/20/25

POTUS 47

Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration -- Administration’s aggressive deportation push has alarmed voters, including some of the president’s supporters. Molly Ball in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 06/20/25

As Trump shuts out migrants, Spain opens its doors and fuels economic growth -- Defying the anti-immigrant trend in the U.S., Spain is reaping economic benefits by granting citizenship to tens of thousands of newly-arrived workers. Anthony Faiola in the Washington Post$ -- 06/20/25

Trump Buys Himself Time, and Opens Up Some New Options -- While President Trump appears to be offering one more off ramp to the Iranians, he also is bolstering his own military options. David E. Sanger and Tyler Pager in the New York Times$ -- 06/20/25

Juneteenth Holiday Goes Uncelebrated at White House -- President Trump made no statement about the federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Lesser occasions routinely garner official proclamations. Aishvarya Kavi in the New York Times$ -- 06/20/25

Judge blocks Trump plan to tie states’ transportation funds to immigration enforcement -- A federal judge on Thursday blocked Donald Trump’s administration from forcing 20 Democratic-led states to cooperate with immigration enforcement in order to receive billions of dollars in transportation grant funding. Reuters -- 06/20/25

Farms, hotels and restaurants press Trump to exempt their businesses from immigration raids -- The Trump administration is trying to thread a needle, between appeasing the farming and hospitality industries and meeting the White House’s aggressive deportation goals. Queenie Wong, Suhauna Hussain, Michael Wilner and Piper Heath in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 06/20/25

‘Throwing us off a cliff’: Megabill could derail hundreds of planned clean energy projects -- A Politico analysis identified 794 planned clean electricity generation facilities — mostly in GOP districts — that could lose subsidies under the House bill. The Senate is debating changes. Kelsey Tamborrino and Jessie Blaeser Politico -- 06/20/25