Deportation fears in CA lead to absent workers, empty pews

As President Donald Trump and his administration carry out plans to conduct the largest deportation program in U.S. history, fear and mistrust have taken hold of daily life for many immigrant communities in California’s Central Valley.

As CalMatters’ Nigel Duara explains in an immersive and detailed report, the threat of immigration sweeps has led to decreased church attendance at the Fresno Diocese; agricultural workers absent at citrus fields; and parents keeping their kids home from school. It’s a trend seen in other parts of California. 

The immigration crackdown has also led to misinformation and fraud: Some reports of raids end up being prank calls, said one Valley Response Network volunteer dispatcher, and there have been multiple instances of people impersonating immigration enforcement agents, or ICE. Last month, California’s Attorney General warned of “immigration consultants” scamming thousands of dollars from families.

Law enforcement officials in the Central Valley are divided over how strictly they plan to comply with the state’s sanctuary law. For example, while the deputy chief at the Fresno Police Department said he is working to reassure immigrants that they can safely communicate with officers, Amador County’s sheriff told Nigel he plans to violate state law by contacting ICE agents after he arrests someone who is in the country illegally.

For families caught in the dragnet, the situation can be grim. Alfredo Naranjo is currently detained at an immigration detention facility near Bakersfield after a surprise encounter with ICE outside his home in Patterson. His wife, Elizabeth Chavez, must drive six hours round trip to visit him each week, and for now, she has told their three children that Naranjo is at work.

• Chavez, on Naranjo’s first call after he was detained: “When he was talking to the kids, he broke down. The kids were asking him, like, when are you coming back? … Aren’t you coming home?”

Read more here.

Bills to shield information about lawmakers and a campaign finance violation — dive in:

• Shielding information: State lawmakers this session have introduced about a dozen bills that would make it easier for them to shield themselves and certain records from public scrutiny. This includes at least six bills to allow state and local officials to participate in public meetings remotely. Another proposal would extend the time elected officials must disclose funds they raised for other groups from 30 days to 120. This would make it more difficult for voters to know which nonprofits, government agencies or other special interests are influencing their lawmakers in real time. But bill supporters argue the current filing period is too short. Read more from CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal and Yue Stella Yu.

• Former Assemblymember fined: The California Fair Political Practices Commission has fined former Democratic Assemblymember Evan Low for campaign violations after he failed to report that he used his nonprofit to pay actor Alec Baldwin $227,000 to appear at a policy summit and a separate fundraiser for Low. Low’s nonprofit tried to conceal the payment amount for the fundraiser, the FPPC found. In January, Low admitted that he knowingly failed to disclose those payments, and later agreed to pay a $106,000 fine. Read more from CalMatters’ Stella.

Let’s get into some higher education news:

• Automatic admissions: A California State University pilot program to automatically admit eligible students is showing some promise to boost enrollment for under-enrolled campuses. Last fall, more than 17,400 high school seniors in Riverside County received notice that they were automatically admitted to one of 10 Cal State campuses due to their grades. For some students who weren’t initially considering attending a public four-year university, they said the pilot encouraged them to reconsider and submit automatic admission forms to Cal State to claim an enrollment spot. Read more from CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinshteyn.

• Infrastructure woes: The University of California and Cal State are excluded from billions of dollars in bond money that voters approved last fall for K-12 schools and community colleges. But both systems are in need of various electrical, plumbing and infrastructure repairs. Run-down facilities can affect student learning, and limited state budgets have left large maintenance projects languishing: The backlog of building maintenance for the 2023-24 school year totaled $9.1 billion at the UC and $8.3 billion at Cal State. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2025-26 budget proposal included no money for deferred maintenance or other infrastructure projects. Read more from CalMatters’ College Journalism Network.

From CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall:

Advocates for the rights of homeless Californians are trying to make it illegal to cite or arrest someone for camping in public, pushing back against a recent slew of city ordinances targeting encampments.

After the U.S. Supreme Court last summer gave cities and counties more freedom to ban homeless camps, more than two dozen in California did just that. The result has been widespread encampment sweeps, combined with citations and arrests, even as the state struggles with a drastic shortage of shelter beds. 

Senate Bill 634 would make it impossible for police and deputies to enforce those camping bans. It would prohibit them from punishing any homeless person for sitting, lying or sleeping on the street, in a park or in any other public place, pitching a tent or using a tarp for shelter.

The bill by Democratic Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez of Pasadena could face a tough road. Gov. Newsom has pushed cities to clear encampments and supported their ability to punish people for camping. 

Snow from the Sierra Nevada provides runoff for California rivers and reservoirs, and helps support key wildlife. But despite heavy rain and snow in the past few months, its snowpack level at the start of April is slightly below average. Find out what this could mean for the state from CalMatters’ Alastair Bland.