Essential: How California is responding to Trump's immigration crackdown

[Essential California] Essential California [Send to friend] | [Open in browser] Good morning. It’s Thursday, Jan. 26, and here’s what’s happening across California: TOP STORIES The wall and more Donald Trump’s long-promised crackdown on illegal immigration began in earnest, with the president signing orders Wednesday to start construction of a border wall, expand authority to deport thousands, increase the number of detention cells and punish cities and states that refuse to cooperate. [Los Angeles Times] Policing: Trump wants to empower police officers and deputies to act as immigration enforcers, leaving open the possibility that they would be required to inquire about the immigration status of the people they encounter on the streets. Such a regime could conflict with the LAPD’s decades-old policing policy in that prohibits officers from initiating contact with a person solely to ask about whether he or she is in the country legally. More than 400 jurisdictions across the country, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and about 40 others in California, have such policies protecting immigrants. [Los Angeles Times] Politics: Between his executive orders on immigration and the investigation he wants into voter fraud, President Trump had a clear target on Wednesday: California. The state was one of two singled out as a focus of the vote fraud investigation stemming from Trump’s belief that he lost the popular vote due to “illegals” taking part in November’s election. [Los Angeles Times] Mexico: Trump may well have wanted it this way, but his wall plan is being viewed as an affront in Mexico. [Los Angeles Times] Beach access For years, property owners along the California coast have blocked public access to the shoreline with locked gates, fenced-off easements, fake “no parking” signs and illegally constructed tennis courts. Studies now show there is another major barrier to the surf and sand. According to researchers at UCLA and San Francisco State, the costs of travel, parking and overnight accommodations discourage many Californians from going to the beach as often as they would like, especially low-wage earners who live inland. [Los Angeles Times] ADVERTISEMENT L.A. STORIES L.A. underground: Elon Musk is apparently turning his focus from the heavens to the earth, proposing on Twitter that he plans to dig a tunnel that could reduce Los Angeles traffic. [Los Angeles Times] No to airport expansion: Long Beach lawmakers on Tuesday night killed a proposal to add international flights to Latin America at the city’s commercial airport. [Los Angeles Times] Tapping Aliso Canyon: Southern California Gas Co. tapped the troubled Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field Tuesday after issuing an alert about potential supply shortages because of increased consumer demand. [Los Angeles Times] Raid: A Los Angeles charter school network was raided by federal agents. [Los Angeles Times] POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Break with Trump: San Diego’s Republican mayor seems to be parting ways with Donald Trump on the wall. Kevin Faulconer says he has “unwavering support” for San Diego’s close binational ties with Mexico in the face of a pending border crackdown by President Trump. Faulconer also made a reference to the border fence that exists in the region, saying there’s already a “secure border in San Diego.” [San Diego Union-Tribune] No to sanctuary cities: While cities like San Francisco and San Jose have vowed to remain “sanctuary cities” despite the Trump crackdown on illegal immigration, Fresno is going in a different direction. “I’m not going to make Fresno a sanctuary city because I don’t want to make Fresno ineligible from receiving potentially millions of dollars in infrastructure and other types of projects,” Mayor Lee Brand said. “My philosophy is to follow the law and to avoid these national culture-war questions.” [Fresno Bee] Lodging debate: An anti-illegal immigration group is livid, claiming a hotel in Yosemite is refusing to allow them to hold a conference there. [SFGate] Flag ban: Anti-communist feelings are still strong in California’s Vietnamese community. As proof, the San Jose City Council voted this week to ban the flying of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s flag on city poles. [Mercury News] CRIME AND COURTS Notorious case: Lyle Menendez, who along with his brother Erik killed their parents three decades ago in what would become one of L.A.’s most notorious murders, says from prison that he still has sleepless nights over what happened that night in Beverly Hills. “This tragedy will always be the most astounding and regrettable thing that has ever happened in my life.” [People] DUI arrest: Oscar De La Hoya was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Pasadena. [Daily News] “Jinx” redux: What Robert Durst said he meant when he told lawyers: “I kill a lot.” [Los Angeles Times] Genocide money: Two Glendale attorneys could face disciplinary action after the State Bar of California alleged they embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from a multimillion-dollar settlement relating to the Armenian genocide. [Los Angeles Times] Video death: An aspiring actor from Texas killed himself Monday in North Hollywood while broadcasting on Facebook’s live stream, and authorities said the suicide occurred days after he was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault. [Los Angeles Times] DROUGHT AND CLIMATE Damaging storm: This weekend’s storms severely damaged Ortega Highway, which might be closed for weeks. [Orange County Register] C’est la vie: Despite all that rain and snow, California’s drought restrictions are likely to continue. [KRCR] ADVERTISEMENT CALIFORNIA CULTURE MTM, farewell: “She wasn’t married. She wasn’t looking to get married. At no point did the series end in a happy ending with her finding a husband — which seemed to be the course you had to take as a woman.” –Former First Lady Michelle Obama last year on the inspiration she drew from Mary Tyler Moore’s character on the actress’ groundbreaking 1970s sitcom. Moore died Wednesday at age 80. [Los Angeles Times] Hiking guide: One of L.A.’s foremost hiking gurus tells you which are the best places to explore and which ones can be a pain (especially when it comes to parking). [Curbed Los Angeles] Tweet storm: A series of messages from Death Valley National Park’s official Twitter feed set off a flurry of social media activity Wednesday when users assumed the posts were meant to be taken as commentary on President Trump. [Los Angeles Times] New demo: Mixed-race children under 5 represent one of California’s fast-growing demographics. A look at their lives. [SCPR] America Chavez: Meet Marvel’s new queer, Latina superhero. [BuzzFeed] CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles area and San Diego: Sunny with highs in the low to mid-60s. San Francisco area and Sacramento: Partly cloudy with highs in the low to mid-50s. [More weather is here.] AND FINALLY Today’s California memory comes from Ron Harben: “I was born in Long Beach in 1944. My dad worked in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard as a welder and burner. We left Long Beach in ’48, but two memories still linger. The first is a sound: the sound of our car going over the steel grating of a drawbridge along the waterfront. Every time I’ve ever driven over a steel grating bridge since then, I’m always reminded of that bridge in Long Beach. The second memory is the co-mingling of the pungent smells of the tuna canneries and the oil refineries. Thankfully I’ve never had the misfortune of having that memory resurface.” If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. [Send us an email] to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to [Shelby Grad]. 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