New immigrant resource center in Logan Heights
SAN DIEGO — On Monday, Jan. 5, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Logan Heights established the Pope Francis Center, a ministry aimed at supporting the needs of immigrants in Barrio Logan.
Amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and fears of Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in San Diego, the church has experienced a decline in attendance.
With the help of local nonprofit organizations, the church will hold community workshops and provide legal and mental health services for immigrant families. The center will utilize the American Bar Association’s Immigration Justice Project, a program intended to ensure due process and access to aid during immigration proceedings and provide free legal services to immigrants and asylum seekers.
Our Lady of Guadalupe also launched the Faithful Accompaniment in Trust and Hope program in August 2025, which connects immigrants with religious leaders from the church to accompany them to court hearings or immigration status appointments.
California joins lawsuit against Trump administration over $10 billion funding freeze
NEW YORK — On Friday, Jan. 9, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze $10 billion in funds for social service programs after a coalition of Democratic states, including California, sued the administration and sought a temporary injunction. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told state officials in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York that there would be a federal funding freeze due to concerns of fraud in the states’ social services programs, such as the California Child Care and Development Fund.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom both denied the federal government’s fraud allegations, claiming the funding cuts were illegal and targeted Democratic states.
The HHS sent Newsom three letters expressing concerns of potential fraud in social services programs and claimed the state was providing benefits to undocumented immigrants. State officials said the letters did not offer evidence for these claims.
Newsom said that $5 billion of these frozen funds are allocated to California. The federal government would have withdrawn $1.4 billion in child care funding across the five states. This funding for the CCDF is used to pay child care providers, subsidize care for low-income families, and fund child care programs.
Trump threatens land operations against drug cartels in Mexico
WASHINGTON — During an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Jan. 8, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would soon conduct land operations against drug cartels in Mexico, who he claims govern the country, following months of naval strikes.
In August 2025, Trump ordered the Pentagon to use force against drug cartels that the administration labeled “foreign terrorist organizations.” The U.S. military has conducted joint antidrug trainings and operations with other countries in the past, but Trump’s plan is aimed at directly capturing people involved with cartels.
On Dec. 30, 2025, the military struck three boats traveling along known narcotic trafficking routes. The attack killed three people in the first boat, and people in the other two jumped overboard to escape. Their condition is currently unknown.
The following day, the military struck two more boats allegedly smuggling drugs, killing five people. The U.S. Southern Command, a combatant command of the Department of Defense responsible for overseeing defense strategy and military operations in Central and South America, did not reveal where the attacks occurred or release evidence of the alleged trafficking.
Between September 2025 and the end of the year, the Trump administration conducted 35 boat strikes that killed 115 people. Trump has justified these attacks with claims that the U.S. will address drug cartels with military force. Trump’s comment comes after the capture of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on Jan. 3. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, face narcotic trafficking charges. This follows the Trump administration’s months-long presence on Venezuela’s coast striking boats that were allegedly trafficking drugs.
“We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water, and we are gonna start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels,” Trump said to Fox News.
On Friday, Jan. 9, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said she asked her foreign minister, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, to make contact with the U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Trump to “strengthen coordination” following Trump’s remarks.
Federal immigration enforcement shootings in Minneapolis and Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. — One day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. Border Patrol agents shot two people in Portland, Oregon, during a “targeted vehicle stop.” The incidents are two of several recent shootings by federal agents enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Good was shot by an ICE agent while in her car. Video footage filmed by witnesses shows Good parked in the middle of the street and an altercation before the agent opened fire, causing the public to question whether the officer acted in self defense.
The Trump administration says Good committed an act of “domestic terrorism” and tried to run over the ICE agent.
Good’s death prompted a GoFundMe that raised over $1.5 million. A donation page created for Jonathan Ross, the federal agent who killed Good, has raised over $250,000 to “help pay for any legal services this officer needs.”
On Thursday, Jan. 8, U.S. Border Patrol agents shot two people in Portland after one of them allegedly tried to run the agents over with their vehicle. The victims were found by police 2 miles away from the scene with gunshot wounds.
Federal authorities said the victims were undocumented immigrants associated with Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that President Donald Trump has declared a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Portland’s Chief of Police Bob Day said that he had no information on the victim’s identities, had few details on the shooting, and did not know which federal agencies were involved, as the federal officials who opened fire were not at the scene when local officers arrived. Day said the investigation will be led by the FBI.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek requested a transparent investigation by federal officials and criticized their presence in Portland. That day, hundreds of community members gathered at an ICE building in Portland to protest the immigration crackdown in the city.