Posts Tagged: immigration

News

Are immigrants tuned in to Becerra’s anti-Trump role?

A demonstrator pauses to take a selfie at an anti-Trump demonstration in L.A. last month. (Photo: mikeledray, via Shutterstock)

At a recent appearance before the Sacramento Press Club, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra defined his job in simple terms: “Anywhere I have jurisdiction to advance or protect the interests of the people of the state of California, you’ll see me there.” Judging by his activities this year, protecting the rights of Californians entails staunch resistance to the federal government.

News

Xavier Becerra: The Golden State Warrior?

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra speaks to the Sacramento Press Club. (Photo: Michael Warren Mott)

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra is leading California’s increasingly tense challenge to the policies of Donald Trump’s administration. It’s a role that gives him high visibility — and headaches. Becerra, in office just five months, is backed by the person who appointed him attorney general: Gov. Jerry Brown. That support is likely to translate into financial resources, too.

News

Latino economics, political clout linked

A portion of the hundreds of thousands of people who protested federal immigration policies in Los Angeles in 2006. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

California’s growing Latino population is numerically strong but traditionally under-performs at election time – and that may have as much to do with economics as with politics. “The bottom line: If you see a growing Latino middle class, you will see a growing Latino representation in government,” said Mike Madrid, a veteran political strategist and author of a study by the newly formed California Latino Economic Institute.

News

Gloves off, California vs. Trump

Protesters in Los Angeles, three days after Donald Trump's election. (Photo: llewellynchin, via Shutterstock)

In the fight between President Trump and California over immigration, many wonder whether a state — even one as massive as this one — can successfully confront the White House. Thus far in Sacramento, the answer is yes — from the governor on down.

Analysis

California vs. Trump bout shaping up

Pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators clash at a May 27 rally in San Diego. (Photo: Chad Zuber)

Any hope that California would soon settle into some sort of accommodation with a Trump Administration is fading rapidly. During the past two weeks, this happened: President-elect Donald Trump named Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as his choice to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal enforcer of rules governing clean air, clean water, toxics cleanup and other chores. The choice of Pruitt, an energy industry supporter who is skeptical of the impacts of climate change and has sued the EPA over the years, sparked outrage from environmentalists across the country, especially in California.

News

California vs. Trump: Angst in higher education

Students at a graduation ceremony at Santa Monica City College. (Photo: American Spirit, via Shutterstock)

In an effort to reassure thousands of worried young people, leaders of California’s enormous system of public and private higher education are setting it on a potential collision course with the incoming Trump administration. The California defiance has intensified and become more formalized since Donald Trump indicated he will appoint Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, an avowed hard-liner on immigration, as his attorney general.

News

Poll: California poverty a big problem, but what’s the fix?

A tent camp for the homeless in San Francisco. (Photo: Brittany Hosea-Small, KQED)

A majority of Californians believe poverty is a serious problem, but they disagree over what to do about it. That’s according to a survey conducted for our California Counts public radio collaboration. The survey by CALSPEAKS asked hundreds of voters and some nonvoters across California how they feel about a range of economic issues, from home ownership and job security to wage disparity and upward mobility.

Opinion

The Pope, immigration and Father Junipero Serra

A statue of Father Junipero Serra. (Photo: stjunipero.org)

OPINION: Father Junipero Serra was one of California’s first immigrants in 1769. Nearly 250 years later, Californians – whose state is now home to more than 10 million immigrants – watched closely as Pope Francis addressed a joint session of Congress the following day the canonization.

News

State high court says qualified undocumented immigrants can practice law

The state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that California’s undocumented immigrants are eligible to practice law if they meet licensing requirements — even though they are not citizens. The court’s decision involved Sergio C. Garcia, an undocumented immigrant from Chico who passed all qualifying state exams and was seeking a license to practice law in California. Arguments in the case were heard last year.

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