How Newsom may fight Trump’s mass deportations

Good morning. Just a heads up: Essential California will be taking a short break, but we’ll be back on Friday. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• An internal draft memo shows how Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration may fight Trump’s promised deportations.
• Laguna Beach is the drunk-driving arrest capital of California. Now, police are taking extreme action.
• Here are 15 expert-level tips on how to create the ultimate cheese board.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper.

An internal memo provides an early look into how Newsom might fight Trump’s promised deportations

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has drafted a conceptual plan for helping undocumented immigrants who could be swept up in President-elect Donald Trump’s deportations, according to an internal memo obtained by Times reporter Andrea Castillo.

The draft memo, titled “Immigrant Support Network Concept,” provides a sneak peek into how Democrats in California are strategizing before Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20.

Some advocates worry that a state proposal to support immigrants after President-elect Donald Trump takes office doesn’t do enough to protect those who are detained amid immigration proceedings.

(John Moore / Getty Images)

Here are four big things that we know about the plan

1. The draft memo calls for building regional hubs to coordinate support for undocumented immigrants. The California Department of Social Services would establish regional hubs that connect “at-risk individuals, their families and communities” with legal services, labor unions, local governments and other resources, Castillo reports.
2. Nonprofits would receive funding from the Social Services department for community outreach, legal service staffing positions and other costs tied to hub operations.
3. The draft memo lays out a goal of formally announcing the program in mid-January, though it acknowledges the Social Service department is still determining funding and an implementation timeline.
4. The proposal does not mention immigrant detentions, a sticking point for some advocates. That’s because people detained for civil immigration violations are not entitled to free representation. It’s unclear how the regional hubs would respond to the arrests of immigrants.

Scott Murray, deputy public affairs director at the California Department of Social Services, told Castillo that the memo was meant for internal discussions and no plan has been finalized.

But the news comes as San Diego has emerged as the latest flashpoint over “sanctuary” policies.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is in a standoff with the county’s Sheriff, Kelly Martinez, who has vowed not to comply with a new policy that prohibits jails from working with federal immigration officials.

As that fight plays out, a conservative organization led by Trump advisor Stephen Miller sent letters this week to officials across California and the nation, warning them of the consequences for interfering with or impeding illegal immigration enforcement, my colleague Ruben Vives reports.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell, San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas and California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta were among the officials who received letters from Miller’s nonprofit, America First Legal.

The letters stated that people living in the country illegally are subject to removal and that it is a crime to conceal, harbor or shield them.

Today’s top stories

People walk along Main Beach Park in downtown Laguna Beach in November. Laguna Beach has had the highest number of DUI arrests per capita of any city its size in California for at least two decades.

(Don Leach/Daily Pilot)

Laguna Beach is the drunk-driving arrest capital of California. Now, police are taking extreme action

• The police department is trying something new: sending a letter to the business where the person had their last drink. The goal is help owners and employees recognize possible patterns in someone having too much to drink.
• The proliferation of drunk drivers has been a persistent problem in beach communities across the state. In 2010, Huntington Beach considered publicly shaming arrestees by posting their names on Facebook.

A notorious kidnapper whose 2015 crimes were turned into a Netflix documentary has been charged in two new cases

• Matthew Muller was convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault in a 2015 case in which Vallejo police initially accused the victim and her boyfriend of making up the story about her abduction.
• Muller has now been charged in a pair of home invasions and attempted rapes that allegedly occurred in 2009 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

California takes the final step to fix the state’s troubled home insurance market

• The state this week released another regulation aimed at easing California’s home insurance crisis that will allow insurers to charge homeowners higher premiums to protect themselves from catastrophic wildfire claims.
• The regulation, which must be reviewed before becoming law, comes as insurers have been pulling back from the state’s home insurance market citing wildfire losses.

The 136th Rose Parade is set to roll through Pasadena on New Year’s Day with the theme “Best Day Ever”

• Some 32 floats, 20 marching bands and 16 equestrian groups will traverse Colorado Boulevard, through the heart of Old Pasadena at 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
• Here’s how a rose journeyed from a Colombian farm to a parade float in Pasadena.
• Japan’s best high school marching band is preparing for its Rose Parade performance.
• Here’s a look at how an army of volunteers shifted into high gear to prepare dozens of floral-covered floats for this year’s parade.

What else is going on

• California’s tech titans say H-1B visas are vital. Will Trump defy MAGA and support them?
• California baby food labels will soon reveal the levels of lead and mercury in their products.
• A notorious kidnapper was charged in new home invasions and attempted rapes
• Two people were injured in a shooting at a downtown L.A. Target.
• Can probiotic supplements really prevent hangovers?

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Commentary and opinions

• Extremists have a long history in Southern California, columnist Patt Morrison observes.
• Latinos finally became Americans at the ballot box in 2024, columnist Gustavo Arellano writes.
• The “deep state” and “the swamp” are both favorite Trump targets. Columnist Jonah Goldberg explains the difference.
• Mexico can strike back if Trump follows through on his threats, writes Scott Morgenstern, a former director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.

This morning’s must read

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Chicano pioneer Beto de la Rocha found art in a “storm of scribble.” De la Rocha, who was part of the landmark 1974 exhibition at LACMA by Los Four, struggles to remember parts of his life, but at 85 he continues to paint.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

If you want to make a spectacular party cheese board, DTLA Cheese expert Lydia Clarke has step-by-step tips.

(Jennelle Fong)

Going out

• 🍾 Here are five of the best Champagnes to try for New Year’s Eve (most of them under $100).
• 🍴 These 25 exceptional restaurants provide the perfect way to kick off 2025 on a delicious note.
• 🌹 In town for the Rose Parade? Here’s what to eat, including the most famous salad in Pasadena.

Staying in

• 🧀 Here are 15 expert-level tips on how to create the ultimate cheese board.
• 📚 Need a new book to read? This month’s titles include a bittersweet comedy set in the Italian countryside and a sci-fi novel set inside a murder mystery.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for garlic-crusted cornbread.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

A question for you: What’s a piece of advice that changed your life?

A new year approaches, and we’d like to know what tips or advance you have for people hoping to make a fresh start in 2025.

Jody Stefansson writes: “I’d like to tell you the advice that my mother, now 101 years old, has been telling me for at least 60 of those years. ‘You reap what you sow.’ Your words and actions have consequences and you alone are responsible. Do you want to live in a field of weeds or a field of flowers? You reap what you sow.”

And Jim writes: “You can’t take care of the people you care about if you don’t take care of yourself.”

Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... your photo of the day

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Today’s photo is from staff photographer Allen J. Schaben of a student at Biola University surfing stormwater rushing through a La Mirada flood control channel during heavy rain in Southern California on Feb. 6.

The photo is included in a look back at the year’s events through the lenses of the Los Angeles Times’ staff photographers.

Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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