CA once supported anti-immigrant measures. What changed?

As immigration raids continue to rattle California small businesses, farms and communities, CalMatters’ Ben Christopher and Mikhail Zinshteyn take a look at how public sentiment towards immigration has changed dramatically in California over the past few decades — and what that could mean under a federal administration that pledges to conduct the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history.

In 1994 Californians passed Proposition 187 with 58% of the vote. The measure, backed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, barred undocumented immigrants from using taxpayer-funded schools, social services and non-emergency medical care. 

A federal judge voided the measure shortly after it passed, but its legacy endures. Prop. 187 galvanized Latino voters and served as a watershed moment for some aspiring Latino political leaders.

Over the course of 31 years, public opinion on immigration policy shifted: When asked whether immigrants are a “benefit” or a “burden” to the state, more Californians each decade regarded immigrants as a benefit, according to data from the Public Policy Institute of California. In 2017 California passed sanctuary state laws, and lawmakers have steadily expanded Medi-Cal eligibility to immigrants without legal status.

But as California faces another multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, the call to roll back Medi-Cal’s expansion is growing. In addition to Republican legislators, 58% of Californians surveyed oppose health coverage for undocumented immigrants. Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed freezing new Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented immigrants in his latest budget plan as well.

The continued presence of California National Guard in Los Angeles also underscores the combatting views surrounding the role of immigrants in the state and the U.S. Last week the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt Newsom a setback after it determined that President Donald Trump legally deployed the troops in L.A., according to Mikhail. 

On Friday, the federal judge who initially ruled to pause Trump’s deployment requested a briefing from both sides by today that could give Newsom’s legal team an opportunity to propose an alternative argument of whether Trump’s troop mobilization violates federal law.

Pacific Gas & Electric within the last three months has twice hired personnel to protect its CEO, amid the wake of the fatal December shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, reports CalMatters’ Malena Carollo.

But the utility company declined to answer CalMatters’ questions about how much it spends on bodyguards, whether its leadership has received any specific threats and whether shareholders or customers are footing the security costs. 

Some advocacy groups and business experts say that PG&E’s hiring of protection staff raises concerns about its response to negative public sentiment. In addition to increasing rates several times in 2024, PG&E is associated with many wildfires, including pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter for victims of 2018’s Camp Fire.

Timothy Pollock, a business professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, says that if the public is upset at a company and beefing up security is its response to that anger, “that would tell me they don’t really understand what the issue is.”

Read more here.

Though a handful of regions in California have experimented with guaranteed income programs, few programs target college students, and even fewer reach community college students.

But as Amy Elisabeth Moore of CalMatters’ College Journalism Network explains, Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive, or BOOST, is unique because it provides $1,200 a month for one year to eligible community college students majoring in a health care field.

The program seeks to address the state’s nursing shortage, providing stipends for students in the Los Angeles Community College District as they complete their degrees and after when they transition into their careers. 

About half the students in the district report incomes at or below poverty level. For Brenda Olazava, who is transferring to Cal State Los Angeles to study psychology, the program helps with bills, giving her more time to study and spend time with her two teenage kids. 

• Olazava: “Just being a single mom, it’s just overwhelming financial needs all the time.”

Read more here.

Last week, incarcerated people in one state prison declared a hunger strike after nearly two dozen California prisons imposed tight restrictions on inmates, including suspending all in-person visits and phone access, in response to a reported uptick in violence. Find out more from CalMatters’ Cayla Mihalovich.