California Divide

Berenice Solis volunteers as a tax preparer to help low wage earners in Kern County claim tax credits. Photo by Susana Espinoza, via Berenice Solis.

California Divide

Newsom doubled down on a tax credit for the working poor. Why does he think it will work?

Gov. Gavin Newsom more than doubled the size of a four-year-old state program that puts cash back in the wallets of the working poor. Why is California’s Earned Income Tax Credit considered such an effective anti-poverty tool?

By

Jackie Botts

• June 26, 2019

A customer buys Thai food at the East Hollywood Farmers Market, June 6, 2019. Photo by James Bernal for KPCC

California Divide

Immigrant entrepreneurs continue to shape California’s economy

Immigrants tend to be bigger risk-takers than people born in California when it comes to starting a business. Here’s why that’s good for the economy.

By

David Wagner, KPCC

• June 19, 2019

Parishioners pray and sing during Sunday service at Bethel Church in Redding, on April 28, 2019. Photo by Sean Havey

California Divide

How Redding, California, became an unlikely epicenter of modern Christian culture

Some residents, saying Bethel Church's civic influence threatens the city's integrity, hand out "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" stickers.

By

Vanessa Rancano, KQED

• June 18, 2019

Patricia Ortiz meets with Rosa at the Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project offices in Los Angeles to discuss her asylum case. Photo by David Wagner, KPCC

California Divide

California housing costs push migrants away from areas providing the most help

Migrants who make it into California find support mixed with hardship. Across the border, there’s a cadre of pro bono attorneys eager to help them navigate the asylum application process. But the areas offering the most assistance also tend to have the highest cost of living.

By

David Wagner, KPCC

• December 19, 2018

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer handcuffs an adult male.

California Divide

Judge rules Huntington Beach doesn’t need to obey ‘sanctuary law’

An Orange County Superior Court judge has ruled that California’s “sanctuary law” conflicts with Huntington Beach's rights as a charter city, throwing some protections for undocumented immigrants into question in 120 cities throughout the state.

By

David Gorn

• September 28, 2018

California Divide

Becerra requests Trump administration emails, internal records about immigration crackdown

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a federal records request today for information about the impact of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy on immigrant children’s mental and physical wellbeing. The Freedom of Information Act request seeks all records related to the creation of the policy and the federal government’s determination of its ability to […]

By

Courtney Fong

• August 8, 2018

Marchers in Sacramento protest Trump administration immigration policies. Photo by Trevor Eischen for CALmatters

California Divide

Trump can’t withhold federal money from ‘sanctuary’ cities, court rules

A panel of federal judges in California says Congress—not President Trump—controls the federal purse.

By

Elizabeth Castillo

• August 1, 2018

California Divide

What ice cream flavors can teach us about the changing California Dream

A scoop of horchata or matcha green tea would have been all but impossible to find in decades past. Now, they're part of the evolving dream for some California businesses — and the families they serve.

By

Elizabeth Aguilera

• April 12, 2018