Californians hit the streets after Trump’s LA deployment

A week after President Donald Trump sent the military to Los Angeles, tens of thousands of Californians took to the streets Saturday to protest his policies on his birthday.

Known as No Kings Day, the rallies took place in the northern part of the state including Shasta County, as well as Sacramento, the Bay Area, the Central Valley, the Inland Empire and across Southern California, including San Diego and Orange counties. 

In San Francisco, protestors of all ages — some with young kids or dogs in tow — chanted “ICE out of our streets” and “sanctuary for us all,” as they marched nearly two miles from Dolores Park to City Hall. They waved California, Pride, Mexico and U.S. flags and carried anti-Trump signs, many of which denounced the administration’s immigration raids and the deployment of federal troops in L.A.

Many of the state’s Democratic officials appealed for calm: Both Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass urged demonstrators to “rise above” and “refuse” chaos, respectively, while California Attorney General Rob Bonta asked people to protest “peacefully, safely, and lawfully.”

But in L.A., protestors and law enforcement clashed, according to CalMatters’ Sergio Olmos and Mikhail Zinshteyn. After issuing a dispersal order, local police in the early evening began to fire less-lethal munitions, flash bangs and tear gas canisters at crowds in downtown. U.S. Marines armed with live munitions also faced demonstrators while protecting federal buildings, and federal troops were reported tackling at least one protester to the ground.

The majority of the protests in California and nationwide were peaceful, however. The vibe in San Francisco was energetic and cheerful among the presence of police officers, though some demonstrators grew somber when asked why they attended the rally.

• Mike Kaiser, San Francisco resident: “Every day there’s new outrages with Trump, with ICE. … I feel that we’re very close to the end of democracy in the United States and that deserves a very big response.”

As National Guard soldiers remain in L.A. following a ruling by a federal appeals court, life for residents and communities located near the city’s government center continue to be disrupted, writes CalMatters’ Joe Garcia. 

Since last week, locals have been under an 8 p.m. curfew, and some businesses report recurring vandalism and plummeting sales. While the sounds of helicopters flying at all hours induce anxiety for some residents, others say the presence of federal troops make the situation “worse for us.” Read more here.

Let’s dive into some immigration news:

• Divulging Medi-Cal info: On Friday Newsom blasted the federal administration after reports emerged that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services gave personal information, including immigration status, to deportation officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The data transfer includes information about California Medi-Cal patients. The program allows immigrants without legal status to enroll in state-supported health insurance. The move to share private enrollee information reverses a longstanding federal policy. Read more from CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang.

• Hospitals on high alert: Fears about possible immigration sweeps at California hospitals and health clinics have patients who are immigrants canceling their medical appointments. Staff working at an L.A.-area clinic system said armed officers last week tried to enter a parking lot where doctors and nurses were treating patients in a mobile health clinic. Though the agents eventually left after being refused entrance, the encounter rattled patients and staff. Read more from CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra.

• Leading L.A. border patrol: In January U.S. Border Patrol agents in California conducted a controversial immigration raid in Kern County, where a lawsuit alleges that Border Patrol unlawfully targeted “people of color who appeared to be farm workers.” In the months following the sweep, the career of the man who led the operation, Sergeant Gregory Bovino, appears to have taken off within the Trump administration. He is now in charge of border protection operations in L.A., and appeared alongside the Secretary of Homeland Security during a press conference last week. Read more from CalMatters’ reporters.

On Friday the Legislature passed a state budget agreement to close a $12 billion shortfall, reports CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff. The $325 billion spending plan rejects many of the social services cuts Newsom included in his updated budget proposal. Negotiations will continue, however, as both the Legislature and the governor must approve the budget by the start of California’s fiscal year on July 1. 

Other budget takeaways:

• Homelessness funding: Both Newsom and the Legislature propose gutting California’s main source of homelessness funding, which has grown to $1 billion last year. Without that money, local government leaders and homelessness service providers argue that some shelters and housing programs would likely close, and the limited progress they have made toward tackling homelessness will be reduced. Read more from CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall.

• Cuts to Medi-Cal: For unauthorized immigrants enrolled in Medi-Cal, the Legislature’s budget plan is a mixed bag. It rejects Newsom’s proposal to cancel home care for immigrants, and lowers from $100 to $30 the monthly premium the governor proposed for immigrants. But the plan also wants to expand Newsom’s proposal to block adults without permanent legal status from enrolling in Medi-Cal to the broader category of non-citizens with “unsatisfactory immigration status,” which includes some legal permanent residents. Read more from CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang.

• Legal aid services: The budget plan also prohibits $40 million in state funds to go towards the legal defense of immigrants convicted of any felony. The proposal follows repeated criticism from Republican legislators who argue that the state needs to do more to address voters’ concerns about crime. But legal experts and advocates say that the rule change would harm low-income families, and that felony crimes aren’t always violent, such as shoplifting or writing a bad check. Read more from CalMatters’ Cayla Mihalovich and Jeanne Kuang. 

Under pressure from tech giants and lawmakers, California’s privacy agency watered down proposed rules that would have regulated behavioral advertising for AI. CalMatters’ Khari Johnson and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on why the draft rules are raising concerns among privacy advocates as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out another video from CalMatters’ Joe Garcia and Robert on Newsom’s proposal to terminate a pilot program that increased juror pay. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.