Immigration Attorneys, Sacramento Advocates Concerned About New ‘Mega Master’ Immigration Hearings

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, June 9, 2026:

• Immigration courts across the country, including in Sacramento County, are using a new tactic to expedite hearings, which advocates say could lead to more deportation orders.
• Imperial Valley voters have rejected a controversial candidate for the Imperial Irrigation District, the region’s powerful water and power agency. Carlos Duran’s campaign was backed by a Southern California data center developer.
• The LA mayor’s race is down to two Democrats after the Associated Press declared Nithya Raman as the winner in the battle for second place over Republican reality TV personality Spencer Pratt,  but a handful of races are still up for grabs in the state.

Advocates Raise Concerns About Federal Court Initiative to Speed Up Deportation Cases

Courts across the country started rolling out “mega masters” that bring unusually large numbers of immigrants into court proceedings at the same time. Immigrant attorneys argue the practice could make it more difficult for people to understand their rights, find legal representation and adequately prepare their cases.

A recent hearing inside Sacramento’s John Moss Federal Building had scheduled 45 immigrants to appear. Another 45 were scheduled an hour later.

Finding legal representation won’t be easy because larger proceedings means more immigrants competing for the already fully booked affordable immigration attorneys.

Giselle Garcia with NorCal Resist, a Sacramento-based mutual aid organization that assists immigrants facing deportation proceedings, said a typical docket included between 15 and 25 respondents.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the nation’s immigration courts, said in a statement that immigration judges can issue deportation orders when respondents fail to appear if they determine sufficient notice was provided and the Department of Homeland Security has established removability.

The spokesperson added that the agency will continue to make scheduling adjustments to ensure all cases are handled in a timely and lawful manner.

Imperial Valley Voters Reject Candidate Backed by Data Center Developer

Early results from last week’s primary election show voters in El Centro and Westmoreland overwhelmingly rejected Carlos Duran’s bid for the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors. Instead, they voted to reelect incumbent director Alex Cardenas, who has served in the role since 2018.

As of Friday morning, Cardenas had over 1,700 votes, nearly double Duran’s total of approximately 900 votes. In a phone call, Cardenas said he saw the results as a sign that voters valued experience, ethics and transparency.

IID is the primary provider of power and water in the region. The utility delivers electricity to more than 160,000 customers throughout the Imperial and Coachella Valleys.

Duran’s defeat was a blow for Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, the Huntington Beach-based developer backing his campaign.

The company is trying to build a 950,000-square-foot artificial intelligence data center complex in the Imperial Valley. It had spent $30,000 to support Duran, a local journalist and online personality who had previously worked for the company as a spokesperson.

Los Angeles November Mayoral Races Becomes Clear, While Other Races Hang in the Air

Nithya Raman, a progressive Los Angeles city councilmember, has advanced to a November runoff against Mayor Karen Bass, setting up an unexpected matchup between two Democrats and former political allies to run the struggling city of nearly 4 million.

The Republican and former reality television personality from “The Hills,” Spencer Pratt, is out of the running.

Raman made a last-minute entry into the race, after she had endorsed Bass for reelection. She was elected to the council with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the election will test whether voters in the heavily Democratic city want to move further to the political left to address long-running problems of homelessness, buckled streets and sidewalks and climbing rent and home prices.

But, a week after Election Day, some races across the state still remain unclear as over 1.7 million votes await being counted.

In the governor’s race to face off against Xavier Becerra in November’s General Election,  Republican Steve Hilton holds a lead over Democrat Tom Steyer.

Two Democrats, Assemblymember Jasmeet Bain and Randy Villegas, a trustee for a the Visalia Unified School District, are also awaiting results to see who will face off against Republican Rep. David Valadao. Democrats are hoping to unseat Valadao, who has held onto the seat for over a dozen years.