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A bill that would expand privacy protections for people who provide legal, health care and other assistance to immigrants is facing intense backlash from Republican lawmakers who say the proposal threatens journalists trying to uncover government fraud.
Assembly Bill 2624 will expand eligibility for the California Safe Home Program to immigration service providers. Established nearly 30 years ago, the program allows enrollees to keep their residential addresses confidential by providing an alternate mailing address through the California Secretary of State.
The program was originally created to protect victims of domestic violence, but has since expanded to include victims of sexual violence and human trafficking, as well as people who work in reproductive and gender-affirming health care.
- MP Oh my godan Oakland Democrat and bill author, in a public safety hearing on Tuesday: “This is about protecting our privacy, dignity and the safety of immigrant service workers and their families. … If providers are driven out or silenced, immigrant communities lose access to vital services that help them survive and thrive.”
But GOP Assemblymember Carl DeMaio of San Diego argued that a provision of the bill — which prohibits a person from posting on the Internet “personal information or an image of any designated immigration support service provider” with the intent to cause harm — is intended to undermine the work of citizen journalists like Nick Shirley.
Shirley who posted his own video criticizing the billis a right-wing influencer whose 2025 video accusing Somali child care centers in Minnesota of widespread fraud sparked a wave of federal immigration enforcement activity in the state.
DeMaio called the bill the “Stop Nick Shirley Act.”
- De Maioat a privacy hearing earlier this month: “This isn’t about protecting people from violence. It’s about threatening and intimidating people who are trying to shine a light on bad behavior.”
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Other stories you should know
New ICE Detention Center Activated
New US Immigration Customs and Enforcement Center in Kern County quietly began accepting detainees this month. It’s the eighth detention center in the state and the second to open since President Donald Trump took office last year, CalMatters’ Wendy Frye reports.
The site, called Central Valley Annex, is a former private state prison operated by the GEO Group. The company presented a proposal to use it for immigration enforcement in 2020, but only recently began holding ICE detainees.
Detainee advocates told CalMatters they have not had an opportunity to raise concerns about the site.
- Edwin Carmona-Cruz: “We don’t want another ICE detention center in California or anywhere else for that matter.”
According to the GEO Group website, the newly activated Central Valley Annex facility is accredited by the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health. They were previously held there by the US Marshals Service.
The latest figures show an average of about 5,337 people are being held in California immigration detention centers, according to DetentionReports.com. That number is up 72 percent from the average daily population of about 3,104 people detained in California in April 2025.
San Diego to cut arts funding
Facing a multimillion-dollar deficit, the city of San Diego plans to intensive funds for the artslibraries and recreation centers — highlighting a similar financial crunch that other major cities are currently experiencing, writes CalMatters’ Deborah Brennan.
As a $146 million budget hole looms over the city, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria last week unveiled a $6.4 billion spending plan that funds public safety, homelessness and road repairs. But the budget also eliminated nearly all arts funding and ended a matching grant fund that helped libraries — a move that angered arts and culture advocates.
- Patrick StewartCEO of the San Diego Library Foundation: “When we cut the things that make San Diego or any city great … I shudder to think what we end up with.”
San Diego is not alone, however: Los Angeles is struggling with a $200 million deficit, Sacramento with a $66 million deficit, and San Francisco with a $643 million deficit.
Report of November of National League of Cities found that most cities are struggling with rising costs, infrastructure demands, rates and other pressures. Its survey of local governments reports that 55 percent of cities find it more difficult to balance their budgets in 2025 than the year before.
California voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Public schools are the largest item in the state’s budget, California’s next governor must clarify his approaches to education and what he would do to raise mediocre academic performance.
After alleging that artificial intelligence is involved in the March bombing of an Iranian elementary school, the question is not whether AI will harm children someday, but whose children are already harmed, writes Sasha Costanza-Chokfaculty fellow at the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School.
Reader Reaction: The federal drug pricing program helps those who struggle to access critical health services, and undermining the program will only line the pockets of pharmaceutical conglomerates. writes Ben JonsonCalifornia Hospital Association Group Vice President, Financial Policy.
Other things worth your time:
Congress is finally addressing the housing crisis. What will this mean for CA? // San Francisco Chronicle
PG&E launches $10 million PAC to remove gubernatorial candidate Steyer // The San Francisco Standard
Telecommuting remains an energizing force for CA government employees as the July deadline approaches // The Sacramento Bee
CA has a new way to get gasfor the first time in modern memory // San Francisco Chronicle
44% of Americans breathe dangerously polluted air. In California it’s 82% // Los Angeles Times
Continuous DACA renewals put CA teachers on temporary immigration status at a standstill // EdSource
Rent hikes, evictions in California Mobile Home Parks // KQED
Meta is cutting 8,000 jobsor 10% of its workforce as Microsoft offers a buyout // AP news
The LAFD’s culture of obedience runs deep. Firefighters say they fear retaliation from bosses // Los Angeles Times
