Latest news with #JamesGallagher
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
LA immigration riots ‘preventable' if Sacramento Dems had acted, failed policies caused chaos, GOP says
The ongoing Los Angeles riots could have been stopped in Sacramento and not have reached the point of federal intervention if Democrats had passed a Republican effort to improve coordination between state, local and federal law enforcement in terms of immigration, GOP leaders said. "Federal authorities doing the vital work of immigration enforcement have been met with obstruction and violence on the streets in Los Angeles," California Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, told Fox News Digital on Monday. "Make no mistake: These agitators and failed California policies caused this chaos. It will not be tolerated and many of them have already found out," Gallagher said. In that regard, Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, said his caucus had a fix for the issues that led to the immigration raids that sparked the rioting. Maxine Waters Taunts Armed Agents After Feds Slam Door In Her Face "California Republicans had a solution in our Senate Bill 554, but the sanctuary city crowd brought this on themselves by prohibiting state and local law enforcement from cooperating with the feds to identify violent illegal immigrants in prisons and jails," Jones said. Read On The Fox News App SB 554 would have adjusted existing California law under the California Values Act, which generally prohibits state law enforcement from investigating, detaining or questioning suspects for immigration-related purposes. Instead, the bill, which Jones said Democrats had tanked, would have allowed for improved communication with federal immigration and law enforcement agencies. Ak Natives Sound Off On Biden Energy Bans As Trump Officials Tour Tundra "Now the feds have to run broader raids, like what we're seeing in LA, which sweep up way more people," Jones said. "This whole thing was easily preventable." Just north of Jones' hometown, he said the ICE raids that occurred leading up to the unrest were characterized by an increase in "collateral arrests," a term used to describe illegal immigrants not specifically targeted by the feds in any particular operation who are also detained. That has happened, he said, because state and local authorities hadn't handed over some of the targeted suspects in the first place. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared to blame President Donald Trump for the unrest, saying it is "exactly what [he] wanted." "He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard." Fox News Digital reached out to California Senate President Pro-Tempore Mike McGuire, R-Healdsburg, for response to Republicans' article source: LA immigration riots 'preventable' if Sacramento Dems had acted, failed policies caused chaos, GOP says
Fox News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
LA immigration riots ‘preventable' if Sacramento Dems had acted, GOP says: ‘Failed policies caused chaos'
The ongoing Los Angeles riots could have been stopped in Sacramento and not have reached the point of federal intervention if Democrats had passed a Republican effort to improve coordination between state, local and federal law enforcement in terms of immigration, GOP leaders said. "Federal authorities doing the vital work of immigration enforcement have been met with obstruction and violence on the streets in Los Angeles," California Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, told Fox News Digital on Monday. "Make no mistake: These agitators and failed California policies caused this chaos. It will not be tolerated and many of them have already found out," Gallagher said. In that regard, Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, said his caucus had a fix for the issues that led to the immigration raids that sparked the rioting. "California Republicans had a solution in our Senate Bill 554, but the sanctuary city crowd brought this on themselves by prohibiting state and local law enforcement from cooperating with the feds to identify violent illegal immigrants in prisons and jails," Jones said. SB 554 would have adjusted existing California law under the California Values Act, which generally prohibits state law enforcement from investigating, detaining or questioning suspects for immigration-related purposes. Instead, the bill, which Jones said Democrats had tanked, would have allowed for improved communication with federal immigration and law enforcement agencies. "Now the feds have to run broader raids, like what we're seeing in LA, which sweep up way more people," Jones said. "This whole thing was easily preventable." Just north of Jones' hometown, he said the ICE raids that occurred leading up to the unrest were characterized by an increase in "collateral arrests," a term used to describe illegal immigrants not specifically targeted by the feds in any particular operation who are also detained. That has happened, he said, because state and local authorities hadn't handed over some of the targeted suspects in the first place. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared to blame President Donald Trump for the unrest, saying it is "exactly what [he] wanted." "He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard." Fox News Digital reached out to California Senate President Pro-Tempore Mike McGuire, R-Healdsburg, for response to Republicans' comments.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Victim in fatal e-bike crash identified as Hampton man, 68
A 68-year-old Hampton man died early Sunday in a crash involving an e-bike on Ocean Boulevard, police said. On June 1, at approximately 1:31 a.m., Hampton Police were dispatched to the area of 507 Ocean Boulevard for a reported bicycle crash. Upon arrival, officers reported finding a male driver of an e-bike on the ground, suffering from apparent serious bodily injury suffered in a crash. Officers identified the man as James Gallagher, 68, of Hampton. According to police, Gallagher had been traveling northbound in the southbound shoulder at the time of the crash. Police said Gallagher was not wearing a protective helmet at the time of the crash, and no other vehicles were involved. Gallagher was transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital by Hampton Fire & Rescue in critical condition. He died of his injuries later that morning, officials said. 'This is an absolute tragedy, and our thoughts are with Mr. Gallagher's family and friends at this time,' Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno said in a statement. The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information related to the crash is asked to contact the Hampton Police Department at 603-929-4444. Anonymous tips can be made through the Crimeline for the Hamptons at 603-929-1222.
CBS News
28-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Key levee project near Yuba City almost complete after more than a decade
YUBA CITY — It's the final stretch for a years-long project to improve a key levee near Yuba City. The Tudor flood risk reduction project is finally wrapping up after more than a decade. It will protect more than 2,000 people, farmland and Highway 99, but officials say there's still more to be done. "You're not going to have unnecessary floods just because the infrastructure didn't get done," said Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Congressman LaMalfa and Assemblyman James Gallagher joined the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency (SBFCA) in a groundbreaking ceremony to finish shoring up the last 1.6-mile stretch of the Feather River west levee. "When this is done, we will have completed 44 miles of levee improvements. We've already certified 200-year level protection for our urban areas. This project helps protect the southern portion, the rural areas of our basin," said SBFCA executive director Michael Bessette. Construction for the Tudor flood risk reduction project began in 2013 at Shanghai Bend, the same site of the 1955 levee break that claimed the lives of 30 people. "It's an eternal, vigilant effort. You have to always maintain and keep an eye on your levees," Congressman LaMalfa said. This last stretch of the project, which costs $18 million, is locally funded. "The [SBFCA] have been able to do a lot of the projects in about half the time and half the cost of what it takes government entities to do," LaMalfa said. "We're using additional funding to continue to design our bypass levee. We have 5 miles of levee repairs under design right now," Bessette said. Levee work isn't really ever over. The next project will be to shore up the Sutter Bypass. The project was slated to begin in 2027, but with recent FEMA cuts, the SBFCA is still working on securing funds. "We're out that $50 million, so we're looking at other FEMA programs to apply for. Congressman LaMalfa is a huge advocate for this agency, and he's going to D.C. to help pass that funding on to this program," Bessette said. The Tudor flood risk reduction project will be completed by next year.
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Republicans Push to End Immigrant Benefits in Democratic States
In California, an undocumented child can see a pediatrician, pay in-state tuition at public universities and receive state-funded scholarships. Immigrant farmworkers can likewise receive state-funded medical and dental care. California leaders have gradually expanded the services available to undocumented immigrants, expressing a sense of obligation to workers who toiled in fields and factories and contributed to the state's prosperity. Other Democratic-led states have done the same, with growing confidence that they were free from federal interference as long as they paid for the benefits themselves. But President Trump and congressional Republicans are now using various levers to upend those efforts from Washington. And Democrats, including three possible presidential candidates who have proposed scaling back immigrant benefits for their own reasons, are left wrestling with how to respond. Republicans are driven, some of them say, by a belief that benefits for immigrants entice people to enter the country illegally. Other Republicans also say they object to the idea that Americans' tax dollars — no matter where they are collected — go toward undocumented immigrants. 'They can just come in here and sign up for health care, and we're supposed to pay for it at the expense of some of our most vulnerable citizens?' said James Gallagher, the Republican leader of the California State Assembly. 'I don't think that's a right use of our priorities.' In liberal states, Republicans have newfound leverage from Washington after being powerless for years to block the expansion of immigrant services in their states. Last month, Mr. Trump signed an executive order targeting state laws 'that provide in-state higher education tuition to aliens but not to out-of-state American citizens.' This week, the Department of Homeland Security started an investigation of a California program that helps some impoverished older and disabled immigrants, warning that 'the gravy train is over.' Perhaps the biggest concern for Democratic states is the reconciliation bill that Congress is considering, which calls for penalizing states that use their own funds to provide health care to undocumented immigrants. That could cost states billions of dollars and make it financially untenable to continue those programs. It would also force states to decide between cutting some health care services for citizens or all services for undocumented immigrants, potentially creating a political wedge in Democratic states. 'They're trying to create incentives and punishments for those states that provide benefits to undocumented people,' said Kevin R. Johnson, former dean of the law school at the University of California, Davis. 'The bigger picture is President Trump and his administration are dead set against immigrants, legal or undocumented, receiving any public benefits from the federal or state government,' he added. Fourteen states provide health care to undocumented children from low-income families, and half of those also cover at least some undocumented adults, according to KFF. Already, some of those states have begun retrenching on immigrant health care because of their own fiscal problems, even before Republicans in Congress approve the reconciliation bill. In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz and state lawmakers this week agreed to scale back health care benefits for undocumented adults to solve a budget gap, prompting outcry from progressive leaders. In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed eliminating health care for undocumented middle-age adults. And Gov. Gavin Newsom of California called this week for a freeze in undocumented enrollees in the state's Medi-Cal program, as well as a $100 monthly charge for immigrants who continue to receive benefits. Democratic leaders say their moves were driven by the realities of their budgets, not by a need to acquiesce to the wishes of Republicans in Washington. But the optics are unavoidable, and many on the left wondered this week if Mr. Newsom's proposal was his latest attempt to moderate his image as he considers a presidential run in a nation less friendly to undocumented immigrants than it was several years ago. The situation has already begun to split Democrats, with some saying that the party should fight for undocumented immigrants rather than retrench in the face of Mr. Trump's moves. 'It's always really easy to pick on immigrant communities,' said Lena Gonzalez, a Democratic state senator who leads the California Latino Legislative Caucus. 'We have seen this playbook time and time again,' she added. 'We're valued enough to be at work and be productive, but we're not valued enough to be given a basic right, which I think is health care.' In Vermont, legislators in 2021 overwhelmingly approved a plan to use state funds to provide health care for undocumented children and pregnant women. 'This is a population that is critical to the economics of the state,' said Alyssa Black, a Democratic state representative from Essex, Vt. 'We love to tout our dairy industry, and our dairy farms survive on their labor.' She specifically recalled the legislative testimony of one mother, an immigrant from Guatemala, who said that when both her sons were sick, she could take only one to the doctor — the younger boy, who was born in the U.S. Ms. Black said she had learned on Wednesday of looming fiscal consequences for states providing benefits to undocumented residents. 'My heart just broke,' she said. 'How can the federal government come in and determine what states can do with their state dollars?' Two dozen states allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges, and most of them also let those students apply for financial aid, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, which collects education data. They are mostly Democratic-led states like New York, but even a handful of Republican states like Texas and Utah provide such discounts. Florida, however, ended in-state tuition for undocumented students this year. Six states provide cash assistance to some low-income immigrants who are older, blind or disabled but don't qualify for federal Supplemental Security Income, according to the National Immigration Law Center. At least five states offer food assistance to some noncitizens. Though the federal government doesn't pay for these programs, they're being scrutinized by Mr. Trump, who previously tried to deny green cards to immigrants who legally used any federal benefits such as food stamps and housing vouchers. He wanted to vastly expand the so-called 'public charge' rule that has discouraged citizenship applicants from relying on public aid, an effort later rejected by courts. 'Any area where there's public taxpayer dollars that are being used in a way that incentivizes lawbreaking is problematic and should be revisited,' said Representative Kevin Kiley, Republican of California. Mr. Kiley spent years as a lawmaker in Sacramento, where he was in the political minority, routinely objecting to California policies but lacking the power to stop them. Now in Congress, he is part of a majority that is trying to change how states like California spend their dollars. The Republican reconciliation bill, which conservatives blocked Friday to seek deeper spending cuts, would cut Medicaid funding to states that use their own funds to pay for health care for low-income undocumented immigrants. Under the legislation, 14 states stand to collectively lose $75 billion from 2028 to 2034 if they keep those programs in place, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. That approach amounts to 'weaponizing federal funding,' said Xavier Becerra, who was President Joseph R. Biden's secretary of health and human services. Mr. Becerra said he expected states to fight in court to stop the federal government's interference. 'Much of what they're doing ultimately will be overturned, especially if it starts to go into areas that the federal government doesn't control,' said Mr. Becerra, a former attorney general of California who is now a Democratic candidate for governor. Immigrant groups fear that the federal government may have other motivations for dipping into state affairs. This week, the Department of Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had subpoenaed Los Angeles County for records, including the identities of people who applied for the state's Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants. The department said it was exploring whether the state had used federal funds to support ineligible noncitizens. It was believed to be one of the first requests this year for state data on immigrants outside the criminal justice system. The Trump administration's attempt to collect 'personal data, postal and sensitive data from people who are seeking benefits for which they are eligible, compromises their privacy and will chill access to critical services for California residents,' said Tanya Broder, senior counsel at the National Immigration Law Center. If Democratic-led states thought they were on safe ground to provide their own benefits to immigrants without interference from Washington, it may have been because past Republican leaders believed in upholding states' rights. Mike Madrid, a 'never Trump' Republican and former political director of the California Republican Party, said the federal government's actions to disrupt how states serve their residents ran counter to longstanding conservative orthodoxy. 'This is unconscionable from a classically conservative position,' Mr. Madrid said, 'and it just speaks to how much, not just the Republican Party has changed, but how much the country has changed.'
