immigration

A person in sunglasses and a red shirt holds up a sign that reads, “Immigrant Rights are Human Rights!,” while standing in a crowd holding more signs.

Justice

California expanding services for immigrants amid Trump’s deportation push

California continues to support legal defense for immigrants facing deportation despite a tight state budget and projections calling for deficits.

By

Wendy Fry

• February 20, 2026

A person wearing a black baseball cap and hoop earrings sits in front of a U.S. Border Patrol emblem backdrop, looking to the side.

Justice

Kristi Noem touts Trump’s border record as San Diego protesters disrupt her news conference

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's visited the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego as polls show declining support for President Trump's immigration policies since the killing of protesters in Minneapolis.

By

Wendy Fry

• February 12, 2026

The front door of a police deparment's building. The door includes the words "police department" along with the seal of the University of California police.

Education

Overtime pay and night vision binoculars: UC San Diego is among agencies helping patrol border

Local police forces get money every year from the Department of Homeland Security to assist with border patrol operations. This includes the UC San Diego Police Department, which helps monitor for smuggling along the coastline.

By

Phoebe Huss

• February 10, 2026

A person in a dark blazer speaks into a microphone with a clenched fist raised for emphasis, framed through blurred figures in the foreground that suggest a small crowd gathered around the speaker.

Politics

Newsom blasts Trump administration’s immigration crackdown; touts California’s drug enforcement efforts

At a San Diego press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom highlighted California’s drug enforcement efforts, while criticizing President Trump’s immigration crackdowns.

By

Deborah Brennan

• February 3, 2026

An empty classroom for Pre-K and kindergarten students in Burnt Ranch on December 13, 2019. Dave Woody for CalMatters

Education

Child care in California was already hard to find — the immigration crackdown has made it worse

In California, almost 40% of the workforce is foreign-born and more than a million parents — immigrant and otherwise — rely on child care providers so they can go to work.

By

Carolyn Jones

• February 2, 2026

A truck driver wearing work gloves stands beside a large blue semi-truck in a yard, with tools and equipment in the foreground and other trucks parked nearby under a clear sky.

Economy

California canceled thousands of trucking licenses. One community bore the brunt of the hit

A third of California truck drivers are believed to be Sikh, members of a religious group that hails from India. They're hurting after a mass cancellation of commercial driver’s licenses.

By

Gagandeep Singh

• January 31, 2026

A modern courthouse building with dark exterior panels and angled support columns lines a landscaped walkway, as a person walks toward the entrance in the foreground.

Justice

California chief justice steps up monitoring of immigration arrests at courthouses

California's top judge wants to deter immigration agents from making arrests in courthouses, a practice that she says instills fear in witnesses and litigants.

By

Cayla Mihalovich

• January 30, 2026

The light from flashlights illuminates the feet of a group of people standing near a sidewalk during a dark morning.

Justice

Immigration arrests surge by 1,500% in San Diego: ‘I feel the temperature rising’

San Diego doesn't feel like a city under siege by Border Patrol, but it's the scene of a dramatic increase in immigration arrests during President Trump's crackdown.

By

Wendy Fry

and

Natasha Uzcátegui-Liggett

• January 29, 2026

A wide-view of lawmakers standing and talking to each other in the middle of a legislative floor filled with desks. A white chandeliers hangs above the room and the room is decorated with beige and green fixtures.

Commentary

California lawmakers can’t resist writing performative legislation

Many bills represent serious efforts to address real issues, but many are offered to please political constituencies, align with popular trends or repay political debts.

By

Dan Walters

• January 29, 2026

Technology

California state employees alarmed by demand to prove their citizenship or work eligibility

Close to four thousand employees of the California Department of Public Health were told they must use the federal E-Verify system to keep federal funding. Unions are pushing back.

By

Khari Johnson

• January 29, 2026