Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, July 14, 2025…
- The Trump administration’s decision to cancel a federal food assistance program is hitting California’s tribal communities hard. For the Hoopa Valley Tribe, the funds help them provide fresh, local food for their elders and creates reliable income for their farmers. With funding set to expire this year, the tribe is scrambling to fill the void.
- The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge’s order limiting immigration agents from stopping or detaining people based on their race, ethnicity or occupation.
- A California farmworker has died after falling from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic immigration raid in Ventura County. It marks the first known death tied to the Trump administration’s ICE operations.
Federal Cuts Leave California Tribe Fighting To Find Food Assistance Funding
Every week, 74-year-old Norma McAdams comes to the senior center on the Hoopa Valley Reservation to pick up fresh produce grown by local farmers. The Hoopa Valley tribal member used to grow her own fruit and vegetables. But after a recent osteoporosis diagnosis and back injury, that’s become harder. So these weekly produce boxes are as important as ever.
McAdams is one of 180 Hoopa Valley seniors getting local produce, eggs and beef through the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance program, or LFPA. Since 2022, it’s provided $88.5 million to California food banks and tribal governments. It aims to strengthen local food systems worsened by the pandemic, especially in rural areas like the Hoopa Valley where nearly 30% of residents live in poverty. Tribal member Allie Hostler, who runs the local program, says it benefits both seniors and farmers. “For our local farmers, it meant market stability. It meant being able to sell every tomato that you grow,” she said.
But in March, the Trump administration cancelled the program, leaving tribes without a valuable safety net. Even before the pandemic, the Hoopa Valley tribe was aware of the dangers of relying too much on outside food sources. In 2015, the area was classified as a food desert after its only grocery store closed down. Today, the tribe runs its own market, but much of the food is still trucked in from Central Valley farms. Hostler had hoped LFPA would encourage local farmers to scale up enough to eventually supply the grocery store themselves.
Judge Orders Trump Administration To Halt Indiscriminate Immigration Stops, Arrests
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles.
