Oakland, San Jose join nationwide protests against federal spending cuts to Medicaid, social programs
In the Bay Area, healthcare workers, union leaders, and Medicaid recipients gathered in San Jose and Oakland to take part in "Families First" protests. Organizers said the new law threatens critical services for millions of low-income Americans.
"It's terrifying what's going to happen. I'm very worried that the services that I rely on day in, day out are going to get cut," said Julia Feinberg, a longtime Medicaid recipient and member leader with Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network.
Feinberg, who lives with spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair, said she depends on Medicaid to fund her daily personal care.
"Without it, I wouldn't be able to survive. The state pays for my personal care attendant that helps me get out of bed, take a shower, go to the bathroom, go to work," she said.
Feinberg joined a few hundred healthcare workers at Oakland's Snow Park, where union leaders delivered sharp criticism of federal lawmakers. Speakers accused the Trump administration of slashing aid for the poor in order to finance tax breaks for the wealthy.
"The reality is people will die. People will die. Families will lose their ability to earn. And people will end up being homeless—people will end up on the streets," said Theresa Rutherford, president of SEIU Local 1021.
In San Jose, protesters echoed the same concerns, calling it "inhumane" for the White House to cut Medicaid while boosting funding for immigration enforcement and ICE raids.
Jerod Truss, a healthcare worker with Kaiser Permanente in Colorado, warned of the sweeping consequences the cuts could have nationwide.
"The Kaiser region has about over a million people that are going to be affected, that are on Medicaid. So that's going to put a huge impact, of course, on our healthcare community," Truss said.
In response to the spending bill, many cities—including Oakland—have joined legal challenges aimed at halting the rollbacks.
"The City of Oakland has joined in multi-city, multi-jurisdiction lawsuits against the immigration raids and a number of other policies," said Oakland District 4 Councilwoman Janani Ramachandran. "It's not just symbolic, there's actual actions that we can and will continue to take to fight back."
Despite the challenging political climate, Feinberg said she plans to stay vocal and involved.
"We have to be out here to push the Democrats to find ways to be creative [to successfully block Trump policies]," she said. "I'm not giving up."
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