{"id":335341,"date":"2026-05-28T01:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T01:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/335341\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T01:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T01:59:10","slug":"stop-nick-shirley-act-passes-in-californias-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/335341\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Stop Nick Shirley Act\u2019 passes in California\u2019s Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

California\u2019s state Assembly on Tuesday passed the \u201cStop Nick Shirley Act\u201d (AB2624<\/a>) by a vote of 57-19. The bill will move to the state\u2019s Senate, and if passed there, it will await California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s signature to become law.<\/p>\n

The bill was introduced less than two months after independent journalist Nick Shirley posted a viral video<\/a> exposing fraud in Minnesota\u2019s welfare programs.<\/p>\n

In the video, Shirley went door to door at tax-funded daycares, asking adults if any children were present and what they thought about the allegations of fraud<\/a>. The video quickly became the most viewed video on X ever.<\/p>\n

Then in March, Shirley went to California to investigate fraud in tax-funded hospices.<\/p>\n

Assembly member Mia Bonta, the wife of California\u2019s attorney general, sponsored AB2624. The bill outlaws the sharing of photos or personal data of \u201cimmigrant service\u201d providers on the internet, if done as \u201charassment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Assembly<\/p>\n

Assembly member Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, center, talks with Assembly member Evan Low, D-Silicon Valley, right, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, June 1, 2023. | Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press<\/p>\n

The bill expands the state\u2019s Safe At Home program. The 30-year-old program gives privacy protections to those at risk of domestic violence, stalking, human trafficking and other forms of abuse.<\/p>\n

AB2624 \u201cenables California\u2019s Safe At Home program to include immigrant service providers, their employees and volunteers,\u201d Bonta explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt allows participants to use a substitute address designated by the secretary of state, keeping their home, work and school addresses out of public records, while still allowing them to safely receive mail and legal documents through the state,\u201d Bonta said.<\/p>\n

Bonta said employees at immigrant service providers have been doxed and targeted online. The bill \u201cgives them a critical layer of protection and privacy in an environment where their personal safety is increasingly at risk,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The bill\u2019s co-sponsor, Assembly member Christopher M. Ward of San Diego, added on Tuesday that he believes the state \u201chas a responsibility to be able to help protect\u201d people who are \u201ctargeted because of who they are or the work they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opponents say the bill violates the First Amendment<\/p>\n

Before Tuesday\u2019s vote, assembly members debated the legislation.<\/p>\n

Republican Assembly member Carl DeMaio described portions of the bill as a violation of the First Amendment freedom of speech protections.<\/p>\n

From the bill\u2019s text, DeMaio read, \u201cA person shall not publicly post or display on the internet the image of a designated immigrant support services provider.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo let me give you an example,\u201d he said. \u201cNick Shirley shows up with his camera crew to the Somali Learning Center \u2014 or maybe one of the 90 fake hospices operating in a building in Los Angeles that was highlighted by CBS News \u2014 shows up doing the work of a citizen watchdog journalist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Election<\/p>\n

Republican Assembly member Carl DeMaio urges lawmakers to reject a package of measures to redraw the state’s congressional districts and put new maps before voters in a special election, during the Assembly session at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. | Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something we should promote. We should want an extra set of eyes. People have a right to go out there and kick the tires and find out what these organizations are doing with our taxpayer funds,\u201d DeMaio said.<\/p>\n

DeMaio asked his fellow assembly members to vote no. \u201cI am urging you to uphold the First Amendment and to protect the rights of Nick Shirley and others to do the work that they\u2019ve been doing. They\u2019ve been exposing fraud. This is fraud that taxpayers ought to know about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Nick<\/p>\n

Nick Shirley speaks during an event held by the Utah Federation of College Republicans at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Friday, April 10, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

Assembly member LaShae Sharp-Collins countered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a game. This is not a social media stunt. And we should not legitimize harassment,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are all here doing a public service, aren\u2019t we? Do we stand to be terrorized out of our public service? I think not.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cSo let\u2019s say the quiet part out loud. Some people are angry that immigrant communities are protected and fighting back against fear-based politics.\u201d The bill \u201cdraws a clear line. And we will protect our immigrant communities and their advocates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her colleague Nick Schultz agreed, adding that the bill would not prevent law enforcement, district attorneys or the attorney general from investigating fraud.<\/p>\n

But Assembly member David Tangipa described the bill as a \u201cTrojan horse,\u201d which would protect nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations from scrutiny on how tax dollars are being spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe definition of a designated immigration support provider is expanded beyond employees and volunteers,\u201d he said. \u201cIt includes nonprofit organizations with no limitation, any facility deemed to be protected by the attorney general.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cIf you read the definition itself, it looks like we\u2019re adding safeguards to cover up. Instead of going after fraud and corruption, we are going after the ability to post it online.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California\u2019s state Assembly on Tuesday passed the \u201cStop Nick Shirley Act\u201d (AB2624) by a vote of 57-19. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59735,7,9,8,8713,44390,86244,138520,65428],"class_list":["post-335341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-assembly-member","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-state-capitol","tag-mia-bonta","tag-nick-shirley","tag-rich-pedroncelli","tag-state-assembly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}