Central Valley Grocery Store Lends Helping Hand To Immigrant Community

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, July 1, 2025…

• As Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions ramp up across California, fear is spreading through communities, even in small Central Valley towns like Dinuba. But one grocery store owner is doing more than just ringing up customers – he’s delivering food right to their doors.
• On Monday, state lawmakers passed two controversial bills that will overhaul the state’s landmark environmental law, known as CEQA.
• Several new state laws are taking effect Tuesday, including one meant to help agency-hired domestic workers.
• The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policies, alleging that the city’s laws “deliberately” obstruct federal immigration enforcement.

Central Valley Business Starts Food Delivery For Immigrant Community

Inside the Dinuba Food Center, customers trickle in and out. Behind the counter is Mohmaed Saeed. He opened the store back in March. In towns like Dinuba in the Central Valley, immigrants make up much of the workforce. Now, stepped-up immigration enforcement isn’t just stoking fear, it’s threatening small businesses like Saeed’s and putting entire neighborhoods on edge.

With many residents worried about going to work or even in some cases, going outside at all, Saeed launched a home delivery service. He’s now making up to 40 deliveries a day, using his store’s truck and rotating staff. “I was thinking to do something. Not just for the store but for the clients, for all the neighborhood,” Saeed said.

Saeed moved to California from Yemen when he was 13. He lived in Bakersfield, and now he’s in Fresno, where his family runs several food centers. But he opened this Dinuba store on his own. And he remembers how much the neighborhood showed up for him when he first opened. “They said, ‘We just want to help. We’re happy to see a new business here.’ I’m not going to forget that,” he said.

California Lawmakers Approve Major Overhaul Of Landmark Environmental Law

After weeks of tense negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom, California lawmakers on Monday passed two controversial bills that promise to make big changes to the state’s landmark environmental law to boost housing and clean energy projects.

The two bills — AB 609 from Asm. Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and SB 607, by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco — were folded into addendums to the state budget, which was approved Friday. They both take aim at the 1970 California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA , which has been the ire of housing advocates and oversight agencies for years. Critics claim its ever-broadening scope and lengthy review process have slowed development and made it too expensive to build.

For years, however, reforming CEQA has been a divisive issue among state Democrats, due to its ardent support among labor, environmental groups and others, who have heralded it as one of the most important tools to fight pollution and sprawl. And they often point to studies calling into question whether it truly stops development from moving forward.

Domestic Workers Get New Protections  

New legislation that went into effect Tuesday ensures health and safety protections to more than 175,000 agency-hired domestic workers in California.

Coverage under the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA is now extended to these domestic workers, including housekeepers, nannies and home care workers.

Businesses that employ household domestic service workers on a temporary or permanent basis will have several responsibilities. They will have to establish, implement, and maintain an effective injury and illness prevention program (IIPP), inspect workplaces to identify, evaluate and correct potential safety hazards, and report any serious workplace injuries to Cal/OSHA. Domestic workers will also be able to access information and guidance from Cal/OSHA on how to be safe in the workplace.

Trump Administration Sues Los Angeles Over Its Sanctuary City Policies

The Department of Justice is suing Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policies, alleging that the city’s laws “deliberately” obstruct federal immigration enforcement. In the lawsuit filed Monday, the department blames the ordinance for why it deployed the National Guard and U.S. Marines. “Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.

L.A. declared itself a sanctuary city in 2019 and enshrined its policies into law last year. The declaration does not allow the city to cooperate with federal agents and prohibits federal agents from using city resources — staff and property — for immigration enforcement. “Trump is tearing families apart and he’s trying to force every city and town to help him carry out his white nationalist agenda,” L.A. City Council member Hugo Soto-Martinez said. “The lawsuit gets one thing right. We refuse to stand by and let Donald Trump deport innocent families. We’re going to do everything within our power to keep families together.”