Jeanne Kuang

They worked with the U.S. in Afghanistan. Now Trump could return them to the Taliban Afghans who fled the Taliban and resettled in California have lost legal protections and financial support in President Trump's second term.

After the Taliban retook control in 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans resettled in California. But in his second term, President Trump has withdrawn legal protections and erected new obstacles that threaten their future in their adopted home.
calmatters.org/politics/202...

The Men Trump Deported to a Salvadoran Prison On March 15, President Donald Trump’s administration sent more than 230 Venezuelan immigrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Last week, the men were released as suddenly as they’d been t...

This is who Trump shipped to a Salvadoran dungeon:

An event planner
A coal miner
An Uber driver
Tortilla maker
Barber
DoorDashers
Soccer coaches
Furniture-maker
Car washers
Taxi drivers
HVAC techs
Auto parts worker
Tire plant worker

and 240 more...

projects.propublica.org/venezuelan-i...

Flight Manifests Reveal Dozens of Previously Unknown People on Three Deportation Flights to El Salvador Hacked data obtained by 404 Media reveals dozens more people on deportation flights to El Salvador who are unaccounted for. “We have not heard from these people’s families, so I think perhaps even the...

"The GlobalX flight manifests contain the names of dozens of people who were supposedly on the flights but whose status and existence has not been acknowledged by the U.S. government or previously reported in the press."

Desaparecidos.

www.404media.co/flight-manif...

ICE Lawyers Are Hiding Their Names in Immigration Court ICE attorneys fighting to deport immigrants are able to obscure their identities — no masks required.

Lawyers for ICE are increasingly hiding their identities in court. This is completely unprecedented.

“We’re not really doing names publicly,” said Judge ShaSha Xu — after stating her own name and those of the immigrants and their lawyers.

theintercept.com/2025/07/15/i...

It was the latest salvo in an aggressive and wide-ranging campaign to quiet critics. In recent months, UnitedHealth has targeted traditional journalists and news outlets, a prominent investor, a Texas doctor and activists like Ms. Strause and her father, who complained about a UnitedHealth subsidiary. In legal letters and court filings, UnitedHealth has invoked last year’s murder of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of the company’s health insurance division, to argue that intense criticism of the company risks inciting further violence.

UnitedHealth's CEO being assassinated has been a huge boon for the company's legal team as they use the murder to justify "an aggressive and wide-ranging campaign to quiet critics" through threats and lawsuits aimed at journalists, platforms, activists, and investors. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/b...

Farmworker dies from injuries during immigration raid in Ventura County, family says A farmworker has died after suffering injuries during an immigration raid at an agricultural area near Camarillo on Thursday, according to a family member.

The American Dream abc7.com/post/man-lif...

Immigration raid at cannabis farm leads to chaos, one farmworker reportedly suffers grave injuries Protesters blocked the roads in and out of one of the farms, and at one point federal agents drove their vehicles through the fields.

immigration raid at cannabis farm led a farmworker to fall several stories from a building. the worker is not expected to survive.
www.latimes.com/california/s...

Faith leaders bear witness as migrants make their case in immigration court Across California, clergy leaders are accompanying migrants at their asylum hearings. 'We’re there trying to appeal to a higher authority than ICE,' one pastor said.

Moving story (and gut punch ending) by @melissagomez.bsky.social who's been doing amazing work covering the raids in southern California
www.latimes.com/california/s...

With carpenters’ help, California eases housing rules—and sparks labor clash California’s new environmental reform law, backed by carpenters, eases housing construction rules but deepens divisions within the labor movement.

The Carpenters Union is "a pariah" among California construction trades unions, @jeannereporter.bsky.social and @frombenc.bsky.social report. Yet the Carpenters struck the deal for the biggest overhaul of California's environmental law in a generation. Here's the backstory:

While a stated purpose of worksite raids is to remove illegal competition from the labor marketplace, the reality is far messier: Studies have found that immigration raids don’t do much to raise wages — and actually deflate them.
Good story by @nigelduara.bsky.social & @jeannereporter.bsky.social

With carpenters’ help, California eases housing rules—and sparks labor clash California’s new environmental reform law, backed by carpenters, eases housing construction rules but deepens divisions within the labor movement.

Why do so many of California's big housing battles come down to an enduring beef between different construction unions?

@jeannereporter.bsky.social did the heavy lifting on this one:

calmatters.org/politics/202...

California labor rule leaves Vietnamese nail workers in job uncertainty The industry was temporarily exempt from AB 5, which required many contractors to be classified as full employees. Now nail salons are affected, too.

When a manicurist asked to be classified as a W-2 employee, her boss refused. “She said, ‘This is how everybody does it,’” she said.

@jeannereporter.bsky.social captures the different dynamics at play in this worker-classification story:

calmatters.org/politics/202...

California police are illegally sharing license plate data with ICE and Border Patrol LAPD and the counties of San Diego, Orange, and Riverside have repeatedly shared automated license plate reader data to federal agencies

Law enforcement agencies are violating California law and sharing license plate reader data with federal authorities calmatters.org/economy/tech...

HHS cancels nearly $600 million Moderna contract on vaccines for flu pandemics HHS has notified Moderna that it is canceling a nearly $600 million contract for vaccines for flu strains that could trigger future pandemics.

Source:

Money promised to “save” local news vanishes as California proposes deep cuts Lawmakers struck a handshake deal with Google last year to pay local news outlets in exchange for less regulation. Now, the budget deficit could prompt the tech giant to pull back.

A controversial $125 million deal California struck with Google last year to prop up the state’s struggling journalism industry is already on track to shrink — before any of the money has been delivered to news outlets.
via @jeannereporter.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/pzvzv3w5

Newsom proposes to freeze Medi-Cal enrollment for immigrants To save $5 billion, the California governor wants to close new enrollment to adults who lack legal status and charge premiums. The Legislature has resisted such changes.

Another notable announcement from the governor ahead of this morning's full budget proposal, as he backtracks on the expansion of Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants amid soaring costs
calmatters.org/health/2025/...

Why are California Democrats against higher sentences for child sex crimes? In a familiar fight, Republicans have pushed their opponents into defensive mode on crime issues, publicly embarrassing Democrats for the second year in a row.

Despite their superminority status in the California Legislature, Republicans keep backing Democrats into the corner on sex crimes. By @jeannereporter.bsky.social

Life after California's death row: What happens when condemned inmates get a second chance Then-new Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on executions and ordered death row dismantled. Years later, inmates say they got a bittersweet new lease on life.

Life after California's death row: What happens when condemned inmates get a second chance

Unprecedented vote shows Dems fractured over housing policy Two consecutive committee chairs got overruled by their members, signifying a growing rift among California Democrats about housing.

One of the most controversial housing bills of the year has lived to be voted upon another day, but only by surviving the Legislative equivalent of two back-to-back prison breaks.

calmatters.org/housing/2025...

The excellent reporting from @wendyfry.bsky.social and @sergioolmos.bsky.social has been front and center in this case.

I spoke with farmers, trade groups and wine industry folks who are all facing higher costs one way or another. Some see hope and even opportunity in the tariffs — but will those outweigh their increased costs?

RFK Jr.’s Health Agency Cuts Reverse An Epidemic That Was Under Control The Trump administration's cuts to HIV prevention will lead to new infections, medical costs and death, experts warn.

RFK Jr. decimated the nation's HIV prevention programs. Public health advocates, once optimistic about the end of the HIV epidemic, say these cuts could lead to more infections and death - esp among Black and Latinx communities, queer men, trans folks, and poor ppl
www.huffpost.com/entry/advoca...

Palestinian Student Leader Was Called In for Citizenship Interview — Then Arrested by ICE Palestinian Columbia student leader Mohsen Mahdawi was called in for a citizenship interview. Instead, ICE arrested him for deportation.

SCOOP: Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi went into an interview today hoping he would come out a U.S. citizen. Instead, ICE arrested him. theintercept.com/2025/04/14/i...

L.A. was forged by global commerce. Can the metropolis we know survive the Trump trade wars? Like few other places in the U.S., the economy and culture of Los Angeles have been forged by globalization. Merchants across the region last week expressed profound uncertainty over what threats of a...

A sobering/stressful story that manages to also be a beautiful and emotional tribute to LA, the city that lets you "travel around the world" 🫶 www.latimes.com/california/s...

Lt. Gov. @eleniforca.bsky.social, who earns millions of dollars annually from extensive property investments around the Sacramento region and beyond, told me she’ll put “any assets that may present a conflict of interest” into a blind trust if she is elected governor. calmatters.org/politics/202...

Politics Reporter CalMatters is looking for a dynamic political reporter who is versed in California’s unique politics, knows the people and players who are influencing policy and can explain clearly why it matters to ...

Be my colleague! CalMatters is hiring for a Sacramento politics reporter. DM me if you have questions about the gig.

We just won a union contract and our benefits and pay are quite good and competitive.

calmatters.org/about/jobs/p...

California schools superintendent has a side gig Tony Thurmond has regularly worked side jobs at nonprofits to supplement his $200,000 salary as elected superintendent of public instruction

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has regularly taken side jobs running Bay Area nonprofits during his tenure as California’s elected schools chief, earning tens of thousands of dollars to supplement his income, financial disclosures show.
calmatters.org/politics/202...

Image description: California food banks brace for funding cuts, and not only from the Trump administration Photo: The distribution line at the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services in the Arden-Arcade area of Sacramento on March 25, 2025. Photo by Louis Bryant III for CalMatters

Five years since the COVID-19 pandemic upended the economy and made millions experience hunger for the first time, demand at the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services is still higher than ever. cal.news/3DJy5l1

📝 Jeanne Kuang
📸 Louis Bryant III