Federal crackdown on CA immigration increases even as justice system finds problems

Let’s dive into some immigration news:

• Proposed detention center?: As President Donald Trump and his administration continue to crack down on immigration, the federal government is eyeing opportunities to dramatically expand the number of immigration detention centers. Federal officials in April started eyeing Fairfield’s Travis Air Force Base as a possible site, according to KQED. The base is one of at least 10 other military bases in the U.S. under consideration. A month earlier, demonstrators rallied at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin after internal emails revealed that the Trump administration was considering the now-shuttered prison for women as another possible detention facility.

• A lack of proper care: The California Department of Justice released a 165-page report Tuesday detailing the conditions of the state’s six, privately-operated active immigration facilities, writes CalMatters’ Wendy Fry. State investigators found that the sites had “deficiencies in suicide prevention and intervention strategies,” staffing shortages and a lack of coordination between medical and mental health care providers. The conditions, such as solitary confinement, can exacerbate mental health issues that many detainees already have, including anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The report also found that more than 3,100 people were held in immigration detention centers as of April 16 — up from the daily average of about 1,750 in 2021. About 75% of those detained had no documented criminal history. Read more here.

• Temporary order on Border Patrol: Wendy and CalMatters’ Sergio Olmos also report that a California judge has temporarily barred Border Patrol agents from making immigration stops unless they have a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the U.S. illegally. The injunction also prohibits agents from carrying out warrantless arrests unless they have probable cause that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The order stems from a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the United Farm Workers, after Border Patrol agents in January conducted a three-day sweep in Kern County. A CalMatters investigation revealed that agents had no criminal or immigration history on 77 of the 78 people it arrested from the sweep. Read more here.

On Wednesday state lawmakers reworked a bill that now seeks to provide funding for phonics-based instruction in K-12 classrooms without requiring schools or teachers to implement it.

As CalMatters’ Carolyn Jones explains, the measure’s new language signals a compromise between two camps of educators who argue that reading programs should either emphasize phonics, or the sounding-out of words; or sight reading, which focuses on memorizing words by sight.

The measure would require the state to provide training for teachers and instructional materials on the phonics reading approach. Because English learner advocates have criticized the phonics method for being too confusing for students who are not English proficient, the bill also requires materials and training to address the specific needs of English learners. (About 18% of California’s K-12 students, or 5.8 million, are English learners.)

The bill replaces another proposal, which died last week, that would have required schools to use the phonics-based approach. 

Read more here.

A Senate bill that would boost housing development near public transportation hubs has advanced through two Senate committees — despite strong objections from both leaders of the committees, writes CalMatters’ Ben Christopher.

The rather unusual development could indicate a “philosophical split” among Democrats related to the state’s approach to building more housing, said longtime California lobbyist Chris Micheli. 

In one corner are the Democrats, including bill author Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, who want housing to be easier, quicker and cheaper to build. In the other are Democrats who do not oppose more housing, but are concerned with issues related to private development, regulation and affordability. This group includes the two chairpersons of the Senate’s housing and local government committees, Sens. Aisha Wahab of Fremont and María Elena Durazo of Los Angeles, respectively.

Wiener, however, disagrees that there may be a deep rift within the party when it comes to housing.

• Wiener: “You have two chairs who have just a different perspective and that’s normal and, you know, I appreciate that we’ve been able to go through this process very respectfully. We’re all grown ups.”

Read more here.

After more than six months on strike, Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California mental health workers are resuming negotiations. CalMatters’ Joe Garcia and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on the record-setting labor dispute as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

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