Workers, volunteers and National Guard troops sort fresh produce at Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in preparation for the end of SNAP benefits, in Los Angeles on Oct. 30, 2025. Photo by J.W. Hendricks for CalMatters

Good morning, CalMatters reader.

Thousands of lawful immigrants across California lost access to food assistance benefits this week. New federal rules make some non-citizens ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as CalFresh in the Golden State. The benefits are also known as food stamps. The statewide Food4All coalition estimates about 72,000 Californians will be impacted. 

The changes in SNAP eligibility are among the huge cuts to social safety programs under President Donald Trump's 2025 H.R. 1 spending bill, which he referred to as the "One Big Beautiful Bill.” The California changes took effect April 1. Other states have already implemented the new restrictions.

While not all immigrants have been pushed out of CalFresh, Trump’s bill specifically targets individuals who have refugee status and those claiming asylum in the United States.

“There are people who have come here after escaping violence and persecution and torture,” Jackie Mendelson, a policy advocate with nonprofit organization Nourish California told KQED. 

“These are communities that we have historically said, ‘You are welcome here. We have the support for you. We’re going to help you get established in our country.’ And now, the federal government is abandoning them,” she said. 

Food banks in San Diego, Sacramento, LA, and other areas across the state braced for surges of people needing food assistance from charities. 

The changes will also impact people with humanitarian parole, such as people who fled the war in Ukraine, according to Food4All. The Trump administration has also sought to cut off funding to states that refused to turn over sensitive personal information of millions of SNAP recipients. 

• Racial stops. A new Public Policy Institute Of California report reveals a 26% drop in California police stops, yet finds Black Californians still face systemic bias, the Observer reports.

• Vision ‘2030.’ In San Diego County, nearly one in three working households struggles to afford their basic costs of living. The San Diego Workforce Partnership (SDWP) is launching Vision 2030, a five-year strategic plan to connect job seekers with quality careers.

• Birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court appears likely to rule against the Trump administration on the issue of birthright citizenship, the SCOTUS blog reports. Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment includes a provision known as the citizenship clause, which confers citizenship on anyone “born … in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

• Green spaces. The San Diego Foundation is offering grants for ideas to cool overheated areas and expand trees, gardens and green infrastructure in neighborhoods most impacted by climate and environmental challenges. More info: here.

• Prostitution allegations. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks "bragged" to colleagues while in his previous management role about paying for sex with prostitutes while traveling abroad, the Washington Examiner reports.

• Court order. A federal judge rules that the Border Patrol again broke the rules in California immigration sweeps, saying agents acted "without considering or complying with law Congress enacted," my colleague Sergio Olmos and I reported this week.

Thanks for following our work on the California Divide team. While you’re here, please tell us what kinds of stories you’d love to read. Email us at inequalityinsights@calmatters.org.