Volunteers Help Monitor For ICE Activity Near Where Day Laborers Gather

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, September 2, 2025…

• Hundreds of volunteers in California are getting up early in the morning to stand at corners where day laborers wait for jobs. The goal? To watch out for ICE.
• Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a new taskforce to clear homeless encampments in California.
• The Trump administration has cancelled $400 million in federal funding for an offshore wind project in Humboldt Bay in Northern California.

Volunteers ‘Adopt’ Street Corners To Monitor For ICE Activity 

Christy (we’re not using her last name for fear of reprisals) is a freelance interpreter who lives in Alameda County in the Bay Area. Like many, she’s been appalled by recent bystander videos of masked immigration agents arresting Latino day laborers, street vendors and landscapers in Southern California, sometimes violently. “I believe in social justice, I believe in right and wrong, and I can’t sit on my hands and say that’s wrong without doing something about it,” she said.

She doomscrolled and stressed, until she saw something on social media that offered her a way to act. It was a solidarity call by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, asking people to adopt a particular street corner near a Home Depot or U-Haul and commit to showing up regularly.

If immigration agents show up in the areas they’re watching, volunteers are told to call a number that connects them to a network of advocates to sound the alarm. Also, they’re asked to whip out their phones and document what happens next.

Although the Bay Area has yet to see the scope and scale of ICE enforcement happening in Southern California, day laborers and volunteers are carefully watching each vehicle that approaches, suspicious that they hold immigration agents rather than potential employers.

Gov. Newsom Launches New Task Force To Clear California Homeless Encampments

Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a new homeless response task force Friday, marking the latest escalation in his ongoing campaign to eradicate encampments.

Newsom’s office expects to deploy the team within the next month to camps in California’s 10 largest cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, Long Beach, Anaheim, Bakersfield and Fresno. It will address encampments on state property, such as along highway medians or on and off ramps, and under overpasses.

The news comes as Newsom in recent months has pushed for more enforcement against all encampments that line city streets and sidewalks, dot public parks and wind along waterways throughout the state. In May, he urged cities to make it illegal to camp in one place for more than three nights in a row. Last year, he ordered state agencies to ramp up encampment clearings.

“California has put in place a strong, comprehensive strategy for fighting the national homelessness and housing crises — and is outperforming the nation as a result in turning this issue around,” Newsom said in a statement. “No one should live in a dangerous or unsanitary encampment, and we will continue our ongoing work to ensure that everyone has a safe place to call home.”

Trump Administration Cancels $679 Million For Offshore Wind Projects 

The Trump administration is cancelling $679 million in federal funding for ports to support the country’s offshore wind industry, the latest move in President Trump’s ongoing campaign against wind power. The project taking the biggest hit is in Humboldt Bay in Northern California, which is losing out on more than $426 million.

The port is located in a rural part of the state, five hours north of San Francisco. For decades, it supported the local timber industry, which has waned significantly over the years. In 2022, the federal government held the first offshore lease for wind power in California, a sign the industry would be poised to take off.

Chris Mikkelsen, executive director of the Port of Humboldt Bay, said it’s a huge blow for the region. “The federal [Trump] administration ran on rebuilding back America, building infrastructure, creating U.S. jobs, creating manufacturing – this project does all of that,” he said. “We’re not talking about entry-level jobs. These are very skilled, very high-paying jobs. Jobs here in Humboldt County are in desperate need.”

The federal grant represented a significant part of funding needed for the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project, which would also leverage private and state investment. The port planned to use it to clean up and remediate polluted areas, build facilities for handling the turbine parts, dredge the waterway and build a larger wharf capable of handling pieces of steel longer than a football field. With the funding cancellation, Mikkelsen says he hopes it’s just a pause for the project, since California continues to push for renewable energy. The state has a goal of getting 100% of its electricity from zero-carbon sources by 2045. Offshore wind power is particularly useful for the state because it produces at night, when solar power goes away. “This hurts a little bit, but it doesn’t change our focus and it certainly doesn’t change our outcome,” Mikkelsen said. “An administration can’t change the fact that the U.S. has incredible energy demands.”