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California Policy and Politics Monday
San Jose mayor confirms Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were conducting an operation in the city on Sunday, Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement. The San Jose Police Department was notified that ICE would be carrying out an operation Sunday earlier that morning. Details of the operation were not immediately clear. Caelyn Pender in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/27/25
Heavy rain forces road closures amid mudslide risks in fire zones -- L.A. County’s first significant storm in more than eight months has already forced the closure of I-5, unleashed mud on roadways, and closed Malibu’s public schools. Rong-Gong Lin II, Melody Gutierrez and Noah Haggerty in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/27/25
Trump orders more Central Valley water deliveries — claiming it would help LA fires -- Citing the LA fires, Trump directed federal agencies to “immediately take actions to override” water operations and environmental rules. But the water mostly serves Central Valley farms. Alastair Bland CalMatters -- 1/27/25
Why Trump’s conditions on LA fire aid put California Republicans in a tough spot -- Would they fight for unconditional aid to constituents in their home state but risk incurring the wrath of Trump, who has a reputation for rewarding loyalists and punishing those who cross him? Or would they side with their party’s president but risk criticism from future opponents that they didn’t rush to help a California in need? Yue Stella Yu CalMatters -- 1/27/25
California bill would let insurers, policyholders sue Big Oil for climate disasters -- State Sen. Scott Wiener has introduced a bill that would create a pathway for Californians affected by fires, floods and other climate disasters to sue fossil fuel companies for damages. The bill would also let insurers do the same to recover costs. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/27/25
California senator reappointed as insurance chair despite questions over corruption probe -- California Senate leader reappointed Sen. Susan Rubio as chair of the insurance committee, despite her possible link to a federal bribery probe. Rubio denies wrongdoing, and no charges have been filed against he. Ryan Sabalow and Julie Watts CalMatters -- 1/27/25
Is Xavier Becerra’s next move running for governor? He’s not saying. Yet. -- He’s served in the California Legislature, in Congress and, most recently, in the Cabinet as President Biden’s secretary of Health and Human Services. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/27/25
CalMatters lawsuit forces LA officials to turn over secret homeless shelter complaints -- Internal reports on deaths, disease, abuse and overdoses will give the public a rare glimpse inside taxpayer-funded shelters. Lauren Hepler and Byrhonda Lyons CalMatters -- 1/27/25
Immigration made homeless numbers worse than they actually were in 2024 -- A surge in immigration that peaked just as last year’s homeless count was taken accounted for the bulk of its historic rise reported in December, grossly inflating the picture of homelessness in America. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/27/25
Trump shifted the 9th Circuit to the right. What that means for abortion and reproductive care -- President “Trump had a particularly significant impact on the 9th Circuit” in his first term, moving the reliably liberal appeals court to the right. That could influence abortion policy in the West. Kristen Hwang CalMatters -- 1/27/25
They waited and waited for an evacuation order. The fire came first, and people died in Altadena -- During the night of the devastating Eaton fire, Altadena resident Araceli Cabrera and her partner remained on edge as they monitored the county’s Genasys emergency communications app. Terry Castleman, Grace Toohey and Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/27/25
Palisades fire victims vent frustration as town hall on debris removal becomes a free-for-all -- The town hall was billed as way for Pacific Palisades residents to learn about clearing debris from their charred lots. But Sunday’s event in Santa Monica quickly turned into a free-for-all as frustrated residents pressed officials on an array of issues. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/27/25
Newton: As the fire risk fluctuates, Los Angeles remains busy piecing lives back together -- Residents who have lost everything — most in the Eaton fire that burned neighborhoods just a mile or so from the center — come in glassy-eyed, smelling of smoke, some in cars packed with belongings, others on foot. Jim Newton CalMatters -- 1/27/25
Expect Los Angeles’ multibillion-dollar fire recovery to bring fraud, abuse and more misfortune -- As billions of dollars in government assistance flow into Los Angeles County in the aftermath of its devastating wildfires, attempts to pilfer those funds are all but inevitable. Jason Henry in the Orange County Register -- 1/27/25
San Jose, Oakland fire departments understaffed like L.A. -- The Los Angeles Fire Department has less than one firefighter for every 1,000 residents, with a staffing rate of 0.90, a Bay Area News Group analysis found. The rate at the Oakland Fire Department is 1.07, and the San Jose Fire Department’s is only 0.64. Jovi Dai in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/27/25
For Southern California DACA recipients, the limbo of Trump 2.0 looks familiar -- The kids protected under Obama's 2012 executive order have grown up, but they still can't call their long-time home 'home.' If they're included in immigrant crackdown, the local region could suffer. Andre Mouchard in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/27/25
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Trump backs off trade threats after Colombia agrees to deportation flights -- The two nations spent much of the day in a tense standoff after President Donald Trump said the South American nation had turned away two deportation flights. Mariana Alfaro, Samantha Schmidt, Karen DeYoung and Trisha Thadani in the Washington Post$ Genevieve Glatsky, Simon Romero and Annie Correal in the New York Times$ -- 1/27/25
Trump officials issue quotas to ICE officers to ramp up arrests -- The administration wants to increase the number of arrests from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500, increasing the chances that non-criminals will be detained. Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti in the Washington Post$ -- 1/27/25
Trump Aides Want to Hit Mexico, Canada With Tariffs Before Talks -- Momentum is growing among President Trump’s advisers to place 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada as soon as Saturday, bucking conventional wisdom in Washington and on Wall Street that he would back off the threatened levies as he has in the past in exchange for concessions. Gavin Bade, Vipal Monga and Paul Vieira in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 1/27/25
Also
How Chinese A.I. Start-Up DeepSeek Is Competing With Silicon Valley Giants -- The company built a cheaper, competitive chatbot with fewer high-end computer chips than U.S. behemoths like Google and OpenAI, showing the limits of chip export control. Cade Metz and Meaghan Tobin in the New York Times$ -- 1/27/25
California Policy and Politics Sunday
Worst of SoCal rainstorm set to hit Sunday and Monday. What you need to know -- Forecasters with the weather service issued a flood watch for the time period of highest risk — from 10 a.m. Sunday through 4 p.m. Monday. Sunday night will be the period of particularly high concern, said weather service meteorologist Ryan Kittell. Rong-Gong Lin II and Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/26/25
Rent rose by 20 percent across L.A. County after fires. That’s illegal -- In nearly 30 cities in the county, the median rent for homes listed within two weeks after the fires began increased well past the legal limit of 10 percent. Rachel Siegel, Andrew Ba Tran, Federica Cocco and Caroline O'Donovan in the Washington Post$ -- 1/25/25
Flashes Then Flames: New Video of Eaton Fire Raises More Questions for Power Company -- Investigators are still trying to determine what started a fire that raged through Altadena, Calif. A new video appears to show sparking on a power line near the origin of the blaze. Ivan Penn, Blacki Migliozzi, Danny Hakim and K.K. Rebecca Lai in the New York Times$ -- 1/26/25
Preemptive power shutoffs that have gone on for days draw complaints from Inland Empire residents, politicians -- Amid complaints that recent preemptive power shutoffs have left Inland Empire residents in the dark for days, San Bernardino County supervisors have published an open letter criticizing Southern California Edison’s handling of the outages. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/25/25
Authorities caution against sifting through debris at fire-ravaged properties -- Hazardous items in the fire zones can include batteries, ammunition, propane tanks, pesticides, and cleaning products that can become unsafe when exposed to heat and fire. Harmful chemicals can be present in the ash in charred neighborhoods, according to experts. Alene Tchekmedyian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/25/25
What It’s Like to Be a Kid After a Fire Took Almost Everything -- Ten children talked about losing their homes, their schools and their neighborhoods in the Los Angeles fires. They discussed what they’re worried about and what’s cheering them up. Alyce McFadden and Isabelle Taft in the New York Times$ -- 1/26/25
Immigration
Trump signed a torrent of anti-immigration orders. Here’s what could happen next -- On Jan. 20, the Bay Area friends and Dreamers — three of about 535,000 people given temporary immigration status under an Obama-era program for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — were trying, in their own ways, to steer clear of Inauguration Day events. Now they’re responding to them. Olivia Cruz Mayeda, Ko Lyn Cheang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/26/25
What would ICE raids in California really look like? As rumors fly, these are the facts -- A rumor that a federal immigration agent had interrogated a middle schooler on a Muni bus in San Francisco set off alarms in the city this week, with school district officials alerting parents to the report before officials determined it wasn’t true. St. John Barned-Smith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/26/25
Congressman presses Trump administration on use of Bay Area-based airmen at U.S.-Mexico border -- Bay Area Rep. John Garamendi is asking the Department of Defense to explain why military personnel from Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield are being used to enforce President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border in what the congressman said could constitute an “inappropriate militarization of our civilian affairs.” Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/25/25
As Immigration Crackdown Looms, Restaurants Are Racked With Fear -- In Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and other cities, chefs and owners are worried for their workers and their businesses. Brett Anderson, Tejal Rao and Korsha Wilson in the New York Times$ -- 1/25/25
California’s growing need for caregivers could collide with a crackdown on immigrants -- Trump’s plans to overhaul immigration could drain caregivers from the workforce as California and the country prepare for an aging population, advocates say. Foreign-born workers make up a significant percentage of the workforce in long-term care, especially among home health workers. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/26/25
Garofoli: Democrats representing Trump’s beloved tech bros in Congress face a difficult road ahead -- President Donald Trump’s return to Washington is creating a new landscape to navigate for four Democrats who represent Silicon Valley — each with a different perspective on a place that Gov. Gavin Newsom calls a “tent pole” of the American economy but is also the nation’s starkest illustration of wealth inequality between its tech oligarchs and the region’s service workers who struggle to afford to live there. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/26/25
Barabak: The rise of Silicon Valley, from indifference to lords of the political universe -- Going back a generation, the tech industry’s involvement in politics was fleeting and peripheral. Midas-size fortunes and freedom to spend as much as they’d like have turned tech barons in kingmakers. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/26/25
Thousands march in S.F. against abortion, pin hopes on Trump during ‘four-year window’ -- Thousands of abortion opponents, inspired by the reelection of President Donald Trump and recent court actions restricting the procedure, united Saturday in San Francisco for the 21st annual Walk for Life West Coast. Maliya Ellis in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/25/25
This city wants to expand. Critics worry it’s how California Forever will take root -- California Forever, the new Solano County city proposed by a group of Silicon Valley tycoons, was technically not on the agenda at the packed Suisun City council meeting on Tuesday night. But the controversial billionaire-backed plan was on the top of everybody’s mind. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/26/25
‘Horrifying’ fire at California lithium battery plant sparks calls for new clean energy rules -- When a massive fire erupted at one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage facilities in Monterey County, it didn’t just send plumes of smoke over nearby communities — it cast a pall over the future of California’s clean energy industry. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 1/26/25
This California metro already has the nation’s most expensive homes — and prices keep skyrocketing -- The San Jose metropolitan area has for years had the highest home values in the United States. That doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon, with the area’s typical value reaching another record high at the end of 2024. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/26/25
Two years after deadly Half Moon Bay shooting, survivors are in line for a permanent home. But other farmworkers are still in limbo -- As the victims finally get a dignified place to live, questions still remain about whether protections for farmworkers around California are any stronger Kate Talerico, Ray Chavez in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 1/26/25
The way pet insurance works in California just changed. Here’s what to know -- Senate Bill 1217, which went into effect Jan. 1, requires pet insurers to be more transparent about coverage and costs. It also requires that so-called “pet wellness programs” be clearly distinguished from pet insurance. Jessica Roy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 1/26/25
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Trump defends ousting at least 15 independent inspectors general in late-night purge -- The dismissals appeared to violate federal law, which requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire a Senate-confirmed inspector general. David Nakamura, Lisa Rein and Matt Viser in the Washington Post$ -- 1/26/25
Trump’s Moves to Upend Federal Bureaucracy Touch Off Fear and Confusion -- Agencies are gripped with uncertainty about how to implement the blizzard of new policies as workers frantically try to assess the impact on their lives. Erica L. Green, Campbell Robertson and Noam Scheiber in the New York Times$ Liz Crampton, Nick Niedzwiadek, Kevin Bogardus, Nahal Toosi and Alice Miranda Ollstein Politico -- 1/26/25
Loyalty tests and MAGA checks: Inside the Trump White House’s intense screening of job-seekers -- Job-seekers hoping to join the new Trump administration are facing a series of intense loyalty tests, with White House screening teams fanning out to government agencies to check for “Make America Great Again” bona fides and carefully parsing applicants’ politics and social media posts. Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Jill Colvin Associated Press -- 1/26/25
Trump Draws Bright Line Between Sexes. Headaches Are Ahead -- One of President Trump’s first-day executive orders proclaimed that “women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.” It sounds simple, but translating it into action across a vast federal bureaucracy won’t be. Laura Kusisto and Alexander Ward in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 1/26/25
Trump’s first-week strategy: ‘Flood the zone.’ Repeat -- It was all part of a plan to begin with a bang and follow a detailed policy blueprint, although key administrative posts remained stuck in a hiring bottleneck and many of his directives lacked immediate effect. Isaac Arnsdorf and Clara Ence Morse in the Washington Post$ -- 1/26/25
5 ways Project 2025 appeared in Trump’s presidential directives -- A Washington Post analysis identified more than two dozen presidential directives containing language that resembled text published in Project 2025 — that amounts to more than half his directives since taking office, excluding pardons and appointments. Clara Ence Morse in the Washington Post$ -- 1/26/25
The Tech Arsenal That Could Power Trump’s Immigration Crackdown -- Border enforcement agencies have spent billions assembling surveillance tools to track and find people. These could be critical in President Trump’s immigration agenda. Adam Satariano, Paul Mozur, Aaron Krolik and David McCabe in the New York Times$ -- 1/26/25
‘Hit Him Back Twice as Hard’: Canada’s No. 1 Populist Has a Risky Trump Strategy -- Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, plans to rain economic punishment on Americans if President Donald Trump targets Canada in a trade war. Ford has threatened to cut power transmission to U.S. homes and businesses and banish U.S. liquor from Ontario shelves. Alexander Burns Politico -- 1/26/25