El Tecolote Newsroom

Immigration news: Updates on DACA, ICE and other changes Trump has rolled back key immigration protections. This tracker breaks down the most urgent policy changes in October.

Immigration Tracker: Latest October updates 📰

• Trump’s latest National Guard deployments targeted Portland and Chicago, but both cities pushed back

• TPS was terminated for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans after a Supreme Court ruling Oct. 3

Read more:
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His mother’s death pushed him into homelessness. Now, he’s aging in an RV After his mother’s death, Carlos Brito slipped into homelessness and bought a rundown RV. His story highlights the growing crisis of older adults aging without housing in San Francisco.

At 72, Carlos Brito lost his mother, his home, and now lives in an RV.

His story shows how older San Franciscans are falling into homelessness:
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New RV permit: How SF's new rules will limit large vehicles San Francisco has launched the Large Vehicle Refuge Permit, requiring RV residents to apply by October 24.

San Francisco’s new Large Vehicle Refuge Permit (LVRP) will reshape where — and whether — people can continue living in RVs:

His mother’s death pushed him into homelessness. Now, he’s aging in an RV After his mother’s death, Carlos Brito slipped into homelessness and bought a rundown RV. His story highlights the growing crisis of older adults aging without housing in San Francisco.

"When Carlos Brito's RV was towed in early September 2024, tears streamed down his face."

"For many older immigrants and families, vehicles are a last resort, a fragile safety net."

"I just want to live out my remaining years with dignity."
#California #USA #ElSalvador #Housing

The Small Division winner of the Insight Award for Visual Journalism is “San Francisco’s RV Communities Fight Displacement” from @eltecolotesf.bsky.social.

If you're attending the Online News Association conference this week, please come to our panel, moderated by our cofounder Sara Lomax and featuring panelists from our partners @documentedny.bsky.social, @eltecolotesf.bsky.social, @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social & @trentonjournal.bsky.social.

Immigration Tracker: Updates on TPS, ICE arrests and more - El Tecolote Immigrants in San Francisco face mounting uncertainty as the Trump administration continues to roll back protections. Here's the latest news.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 to lift limits on ICE stops in Los Angeles, clearing the way for agents to resume immigration arrests and raids in the region.

Follow our Immigration Tracker for ongoing updates.
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For food vendors, San Francisco’s new permit is a crackdown Records reviewed show San Francisco launched a workgroup to create a new permit for street vendors. Yet it is out of reach for many.

S.F. quietly launched a workgroup to create a new permit for food vendors.

Informal food vendors say the proposed plan is out of reach.

Paired with an uptick in enforcement, they say the city’s ultimate goal is to dismantle a fragile economic lifeline altogether.

eltecolote.org/content/en/s...

ICE tactics escalate in SF as protesters clash with officers Federal officers escalated their use of force outside San Francisco’s immigration courthouse as protesters clashed with ICE following multiple detentions, marking the latest escalation in enforcement ...

Federal officers escalated their use of force this morning as about 30 protesters clashed with ICE officers outside San Francisco’s immigration courthouse.
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Five ways to defend San Francisco’s at-risk immigrant workers Immigrant advocate Francisco Herrera shares five concrete ways to protect at-risk immigrant workers from raids and deportation.

Immigrant advocate Francisco Herrera provides five concrete ways to protect at-risk immigrant workers from raids and deportation in San Francisco:
eltecolote.org/content/en/s...

Day laborers are the unseen backbone of San Francisco’s economy, taking on its most dangerous and least protected work.

This is the story of one man whose fragile stability shattered when a job cost him his leg: bit.ly/45AS1Aq

An SF couple’s life unraveled after one ICE check-in A routine ICE check-in tore a San Francisco couple apart. Now, Sandra awaits asylum in detention while Roberto is left behind.

Two immigrants fell in love. After building a life together, a routine ICE check-in tore them apart.
eltecolote.org/content/en/i...

Homeless families in SF win $30M for housing, longer shelter stays Homeless families in San Francisco secured $30 million in rent vouchers and longer shelter stays — a major policy shift led by Supervisor Jackie Fielder.

"This is a huge win."

"Latino homeless families are celebrating a major $30 million win for emergency rent vouchers and extended shelter stays."

"There are 3,000 homeless children in San Francisco."
#California #USA #Housing

Trump’s immigration crackdowns now threaten immigrant housing Despite California’s strong tenant protections, vulnerable immigrant renters are terrified to invoke them out of fear they’ll be deported.

Despite California’s strong tenant protections, vulnerable immigrant renters are terrified to invoke them out of fear they’ll be deported.
eltecolote.org/content/en/t...

San Francisco’s RV crackdown is bureaucratic cruelty by design What looks like bureaucratic dysfunction is actually a system meant to disappear the poor, writes RV resident Armando Bravo Martinez.

"Real solutions start by treating vehicle residents as neighbors, not nuisances. And by working with us, not just around us."
--Armando Bravo Martinez @eltecolotesf.bsky.social

ICE raids. Mayoral silence. Is San Francisco still a sanctuary city? - El Tecolote San Francisco calls itself a sanctuary city, but ICE raids, police comments and silence from the mayor’s office tell a different story.

San Francisco calls itself a sanctuary city, but recent ICE raids, police comments, and silence from the mayor’s office tell a different story.

Read the Op-Ed: eltecolote.org/content/en/s...

The SFMTA just voted 6-1 to approve a new “refuge permit” — a major step toward enforcing San Francisco’s citywide two-hour parking limit for RVs.

Can it actually get enforced?

Read about the controversial policy: eltecolote.org/content/en/s...

Can SF's two-hour parking limit for RVs be enforced? Mayor Lurie’s proposed RV parking limit is framed as a compassionate fix for vehicular homelessness. But records show it mirrors the same harmful enforcement tactics that have already destabilized and...

Mayor Lurie’s proposed RV parking limit is framed as a compassionate fix for vehicular homelessness.

But public records show it mirrors the same harmful enforcement tactics that have already destabilized and scattered families across the city:
eltecolote.org/content/en/s...

SF weaponizes parking rules to displace RV families: 6 takeaways from El Tecolote's blockbuster report - 48 hills Winston Drive community of working class families was torn apart in 2024—and now Mayor Lurie intensifies the crackdown.

An @eltecolotesf.bsky.social investigation reveals how officials quietly coordinated a crackdown, using parking laws and construction projects to push out RV residents even when safe alternatives didn’t exist.

SF is weaponizing parking to dismantle RV communities. Here’s how it started San Francisco is using parking laws and construction projects to displace RV communities of working-class families. This investigation reveals how the crackdown began — and why it backfired.

San Francisco is using parking laws and construction projects to displace RV communities of working-class families.

This investigation reveals how the crackdown began — and why it backfired.
eltecolote.org/content/en/s...

“Nothing would run in this city and this economy without the labor of immigrants and all workers. These are our streets, our building — and if they can’t open it because of us, we’ll consider that a victory.” — Sanika Mahajan, Director of Community Engagement & Organizing with Mission Action

Last night, federal immigration officials sent text messages instructing immigrants to appear at an unmarked ICE office at 478 Tehama Street this weekend — an unusual move outside standard weekday operations.

In response, hundreds of community members gathered at 7 a.m. to protest.

SF is weaponizing parking to dismantle RV communities. Here’s how it started San Francisco is using parking laws and construction projects to displace RV communities of working-class families. This investigation reveals how the crackdown began — and why it backfired.

San Francisco "used parking laws and construction projects to displace RV residents, even as internal emails flagged legal, logistical and ethical concerns."

"These vehicle homes sheltered dozens of working-class Latinx families, who could no longer afford the city."
#California #USA #Housing

San Francisco is moving towards a citywide ban on RVs.

Our year-long investigation reveals how the mass eviction of a Latinx RV community became the city’s blueprint for displacement — and made the crisis worse.

Read here: bit.ly/4loeWFt

ICE arrests at SF courthouse spark protests and court closures ICE agents arrested three immigrants at San Francisco’s immigration court, triggering protests and a shutdown of court proceedings.

Three immigrants were arrested by plainclothes ICE agents at San Francisco’s immigration court Tuesday. Protesters rushed to the scene and attempted to block the arrests.

By 1:30 p.m., demonstrators were told the courthouse had been shut down.
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Tonight’s anti-ICE protest in San Francisco’s Mission District ✨

What began as a peaceful protest outside SF’s ICE office Sunday night ended in chaos with more than 60 people arrested.

Over 500 demonstrators took to the streets in solidarity with Los Angeles, where Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to suppress protests against federal immigration raids.

ICE arrests four at SF courthouse, sparking outcry from advocates Four people were arrested by ICE at San Francisco’s immigration court — a rare tactic immigrant rights groups call a disturbing escalation.

Four people were arrested by ICE agents outside San Francisco’s immigration court on Tuesday — a rare tactic Bay Area immigrant rights groups say marks an alarming escalation in local enforcement.

eltecolote.org/content/en/i...

ICYMI #Carnaval

SFUSD reverses 151 layoffs of counselors and paraeducators After months of advocacy, SFUSD has canceled 151 layoffs of school counselors and paraeducators.

In a surprising, last-minute reversal, SFUSD announced Friday that it will rescind 151 of 160 planned layoffs of school counselors and paraeducators — a decision that comes after months of outcry from educators, students, and families. eltecolote.org/content/en/s...