Lawmakers introduce bills to stop ICE courthouse raids

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, April 24, 2026

• A new report questions the quality of California’s publicly-funded preschool programs, including transitional kindergarten.
• Republican candidates for California governor say they would extradite a Sonoma County doctor for allegedly mailing abortion pills to a patient in Louisiana.
• A bill advancing in the state legislature would disqualify people from becoming local or state police officers if they’ve taken part in immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term. 
• Courthouse arrests by ICE have been ramping up across California, particularly in the Inland Empire where court raids have become almost a daily occurrence. In response, two state senators have introduced bills in the California legislature that aim to curb raids at courthouses. 

California expanded preschool access, but report says state needs to improve quality

While enrollment for public preschool programs grows in California, researchers say they lag behind other states when it comes to quality measures.

In the 2024-25 school year, California served 278,273 kids in its two state-funded programs, up more than 25,000 over the year before:

• Transitional kindergarten, a new grade for 4-year-olds in public schools
• California State Preschool Program, which serves families based on income

In a new report, researchers found both programs lacked several quality measures.

Republican gubernatorial candidates say they’ll be tough on abortion

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, one of the top polling candidates for California governor, told KQED he would allow Louisiana to extradite a Bay Area doctor in an abortion case if he’s elected. 

Healdsburg Doctor Rémy Coeytaux was indicted by Louisiana’s attorney general for allegedly mailing abortion pills to a woman there. 

“He broke the law,” said Bianco. “He’s going to suffer consequences and he has to suffer consequences.”

The other Republican candidate in the race, Steve Hilton, told KQED earlier this year he would also extradite the doctor.

California Democrats to Trump immigration agents: Don’t apply here

Should someone’s work in immigration enforcement during the Trump administration preclude them from having a job in California civil service?

Many California Democrats, alarmed by the administration’s aggressive immigration tactics, are prepared to take that step.

On a party line vote, legislators in the state Senate’s public safety committee passed a bill Tuesday that would disqualify people from becoming local or state police officers if they personally participated in federal immigration enforcement beginning on or after Jan. 20, 2025 — the date when President Donald Trump started his second term.

Lawmakers introduce bills to stop ICE courthouse raids

Susan Rubio, who represents the San Gabriel Valley and Pomona, has introduced a bill that will allow people to schedule remote court hearings. 

State Senator Eloise Gomez Reyes says watching videos of arrests at a Rancho Cucamonga courthouse was “sickening.” She represents San Bernardino County.

Reyes’ bill will require federal agents to identify themselves and present judicial warrants when making arrests within 1000 feet of a courthouse.