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Tag: local official

  • Contributor: This time the U.S. isn’t hiding why it’s toppling a Latin American nation

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    In the aftermath of the U.S. military strike that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, the Trump administration has emphasized its desire for unfettered access to Venezuela’s oil more than conventional foreign policy objectives, such as combating drug trafficking or bolstering democracy and regional stability.

    During his first news conference after the operation, President Trump claimed oil companies would play an important role and that the oil revenue would help fund any further intervention in Venezuela.

    Soon after, “Fox & Friends” hosts asked Trump about this prediction.

    “We have the greatest oil companies in the world,” Trump replied, “the biggest, the greatest, and we’re gonna be very much involved in it.”

    As a historian of U.S.-Latin American relations, I’m not surprised that oil or any other commodity is playing a role in U.S. policy toward the region. What has taken me aback, though, is the Trump administration’s openness about how much oil is driving its policies toward Venezuela.

    As I’ve detailed recently, U.S. military intervention in Latin America has largely been covert. And when the U.S. orchestrated the coup that ousted Guatemala’s democratically elected president in 1954, the U.S. covered up the role that economic considerations played in that operation.

    By the early 1950s, Guatemala had become a top source for the bananas Americans consumed, as it remains today.

    The United Fruit Company, based in Boston, owned more than 550,000 acres of Guatemalan land, largely thanks to its deals with previous dictatorships. These holdings required the intense labor of impoverished farmworkers who were often forced from their traditional lands. Their pay was rarely stable, and they faced periodic layoffs and wage cuts.

    The international corporation networked with dictators and local officials in Central America, many Caribbean islands and parts of South America to acquire immense estates for railroads and banana plantations.

    The locals called it the pulpo — “octopus” in Spanish — because the company seemingly had a hand in shaping the region’s politics, economies and everyday life. The Colombian government brutally crushed a 1928 strike by United Fruit workers, killing hundreds of people.

    The company’s seemingly unlimited clout in the countries where it operated gave rise to the stereotype of Central American nations as “banana republics.”

    In Guatemala, a country historically marked by extreme inequality, a broad coalition formed in 1944 to overthrow its repressive dictatorship in a popular uprising. Inspired by the anti-fascist ideals of World War II, the coalition sought to make the nation more democratic and its economy more fair.

    After decades of repression, the nation democratically elected Juan José Arévalo and then Jacobo Árbenz, under whom, in 1952, Guatemala implemented a land reform program that gave landless farmworkers their own undeveloped plots. Guatemala’s government asserted that these policies would build a more equitable society for Guatemala’s impoverished, Indigenous majority.

    United Fruit denounced Guatemala’s reforms as the result of a global conspiracy. It alleged that most of Guatemala’s unions were controlled by Mexican and Soviet communists and painted the land reform as a ploy to destroy capitalism.

    United Fruit sought to enlist the U.S. government in its fight against the elected government’s policies. While its executives did complain that Guatemala’s reforms hurt its financial investments and labor costs, they also cast any interference in its operations as part of a broader communist plot.

    It did this through an advertising campaign in the U.S. and by taking advantage of the anti-communist paranoia that prevailed at the time.

    United Fruit executives began to meet with officials in the Truman administration as early as 1945. Despite the support of sympathetic ambassadors, the U.S. government apparently wouldn’t intervene directly in Guatemala’s affairs.

    The company turned to Congress.

    It hired well connected lobbyists to portray Guatemala’s policies as part of a communist plot to destroy capitalism and the United States. In February 1949, multiple members of Congress denounced Guatemala’s labor reforms as communist.

    Sen. Claude Pepper called the labor code “obviously intentionally discriminatory against this American company” and “a machine gun aimed at the head of this American company.”

    Two days later, Rep. John McCormack echoed that statement, using the exact same words to denounce the reforms.

    Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., Sen. Lister Hill and Rep. Mike Mansfield also went on the record, reciting the talking points outlined in United Fruit memos.

    No lawmaker said a word about bananas.

    Seventy-seven years later, we may see many echoes of past interventions, but now the U.S. government has dropped the veil: In his appearance after the strike that seized Maduro this month, Trump said “oil” 21 times.

    Aaron Coy Moulton is an associate professor of Latin American history at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas and the author of “Caribbean Blood Pacts: Guatemala and the Cold War Struggle for Freedom.” This article was produced in collaboration with the Conversation.

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    Aaron Coy Moulton

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  • Stephen A. Smith doubles down on calling ICE shooting in Minneapolis ‘completely justified’

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    Stephen A. Smith is arguably the most-well known sports commentator in the country. But the outspoken ESPN commentator’s perspective outside the sports arena has landed him in a firestorm.

    The furor is due to his pointed comments defending an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot a Minneapolis woman driving away from him.

    Just hours after the shooting on Wednesday, Smith said on his SiriusXM “Straight Shooter” talk show that although the killing of Renee Nicole Good was “completely unnecessary,” he added that the agent “from a lawful perspective” was “completely justified” in firing his gun at her.

    He also noted, “From a humanitarian perspective, however, why did he have to do that?”

    Smith’s comments about the agent being in harm’s way echoed the views of Deputy of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said Good engaged in an “act of domestic terrorism” by attacking officers and attempting to run them over with her vehicle.

    However, videos showing the incident from different angles indicate that the agent was not standing directly in front of Good’s vehicle when he opened fire on her. Local officials contend that Good posed no danger to ICE officers. A video posted by partisan media outlet Alpha News showed Good talking to agents before the shooting, saying, “I’m not mad at you.”

    The shooting has sparked major protests and accusations from local officials that the presence of ICE has been disruptive and escalated violence. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye condemned ICE, telling agents to “get the f— out of our city.”

    The incident, in turn, has put a harsher spotlight on Smith, raising questions on whether he was reckless or irresponsible in offering his views on Good’s shooting when he had no direct knowledge of what had transpired.

    An angered Smith appeared on his “Straight Shooter” show on YouTube on Friday, saying the full context of his comments had not been conveyed in media reports, specifically calling out the New York Post and media personality Keith Olbermann, while saying that people were trying to get him fired.

    He also doubled down on his contention that Good provoked the situation that led to her death, saying the ICE agent was in front of Good’s car and would have been run over had he not stepped out of the way.

    “In the moment when you are dealing with law enforcement officials, you obey their orders so you can get home safely,” he said. “Renee Good did not do that.”

    When reached for comment about his statements, a representative for Smith said his response was in Friday’s show.

    It’s not the first time Smith, who has suggested he’s interesting in going into politics, has sparked outside the sports universe. He and journalist Joy Reid publicly quarreled following her exit last year from MSNBC.

    He also faced backlash from Black media personalities and others when he accused Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas of using “street verbiage” in her frequent criticisms of President Trump.

    “The way that Jasmine Crockett chooses to express herself … Aren’t you there to try and get stuff done instead of just being an impediment? ‘I’m just going to go off about Trump, cuss him out every chance I get, say the most derogatory things imaginable, and that’s my day’s work?’ That ain’t work! Work is, this is the man in power. I know what his agenda is. Maybe I try to work with this man. I might get something out of it for my constituents.’ ”

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    Greg Braxton

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  • An earthquake destroys villages in eastern Afghanistan and kills 800 people, with 2,500 injured

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    Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in the dead of the night in search of missing loved ones after a strong earthquake killed some 800 people and injured more than 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government.The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage.The quake at 11:47 p.m. was centered 17 miles east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was just 5 miles deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed.Footage showed rescuers taking injured people on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands.The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a press conference Monday that the death toll had risen to at least 800 with more than 2,500 injured. He said most of the casualties were in Kunar.Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood. Many are poorly built.One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said nearly the entire village was destroyed.“Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble,” said the villager, who did not give his name.“We need help here,” he pleaded. “We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble.”Homes collapsed and people screamed for helpEastern Afghanistan is mountainous, with remote areas.The quake has worsened communications. Blocked roads are forcing aid workers to walk four or five hours to reach survivors. Dozens of flights have operated in and out of Nangarhar Airport, transporting the injured to hospital.One survivor described seeing homes collapse before his eyes and people screaming for help.Sadiqullah, who lives in the Maza Dara area of Nurgal, said he was woken by a deep boom that sounded like a storm approaching. Like many Afghans, he uses only one name.He ran to where his children were sleeping and rescued three of them. He was about to return to grab the rest of his family when the room fell on top of him.“I was half-buried and unable to get out,” he told The Associated Press by phone from Nangarhar Hospital. “My wife and two sons are dead, and my father is injured and in hospital with me. We were trapped for three to four hours until people from other areas arrived and pulled me out.”It felt like the whole mountain was shaking, he said.Rescue operations were underway and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area, said Sharafat Zaman, a health ministry spokesman.Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and that “the numbers were expected to change” as deaths and injuries are reported. The chief spokesman, Mujahid, said helicopters had reached some areas but road travel was difficult.“There are some villages where the injured and dead haven’t been recovered from the rubble, so that’s why the numbers may increase,” he told journalists.The tremors were felt in neighboring PakistanFilippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said the earthquake intensified existing humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan and urged international donors to support relief efforts.“This adds death and destruction to other challenges including drought and the forced return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring countries,” Grandi wrote on the social media platform X. “Hopefully the donor community will not hesitate to support relief efforts.”A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished in that quake.The U.N. gave a far lower death toll of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.The latest earthquake was likely to “dwarf the scale of the humanitarian needs” caused by the disaster of 2023, according to the International Rescue Committee.Entire roads and communities have been cut off from accessing nearby towns or hospitals and 2,000 casualties were reported within the first 12 hours, said Sherine Ibrahim, the country director for the aid agency.“Although we have been able to act fast, we are profoundly fearful for the additional strain this will have on the overall humanitarian response in Afghanistan,” said Ibrahim. ” Global funding cuts have dramatically hampered our ability to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.”Sunday night’s quake was felt in parts of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad. There were no reports of casualties or damage.Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened by events in Afghanistan. “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We are ready to extend all possible support in this regard,” he said on the social platform X.Pakistan has expelled tens of thousands of Afghans in the past year, many of them living in the country for decades as refugees.At least 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan so far this year, according to a June report by UNHCR.

    KABUL, Afghanistan —

    Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in the dead of the night in search of missing loved ones after a strong earthquake killed some 800 people and injured more than 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government.

    The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage.

    The quake at 11:47 p.m. was centered 17 miles east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was just 5 miles deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed.

    Footage showed rescuers taking injured people on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands.

    The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a press conference Monday that the death toll had risen to at least 800 with more than 2,500 injured. He said most of the casualties were in Kunar.

    Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood. Many are poorly built.

    One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said nearly the entire village was destroyed.

    “Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble,” said the villager, who did not give his name.

    “We need help here,” he pleaded. “We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble.”

    Homes collapsed and people screamed for help

    Eastern Afghanistan is mountainous, with remote areas.

    The quake has worsened communications. Blocked roads are forcing aid workers to walk four or five hours to reach survivors. Dozens of flights have operated in and out of Nangarhar Airport, transporting the injured to hospital.

    One survivor described seeing homes collapse before his eyes and people screaming for help.

    Sadiqullah, who lives in the Maza Dara area of Nurgal, said he was woken by a deep boom that sounded like a storm approaching. Like many Afghans, he uses only one name.

    He ran to where his children were sleeping and rescued three of them. He was about to return to grab the rest of his family when the room fell on top of him.

    “I was half-buried and unable to get out,” he told The Associated Press by phone from Nangarhar Hospital. “My wife and two sons are dead, and my father is injured and in hospital with me. We were trapped for three to four hours until people from other areas arrived and pulled me out.”

    It felt like the whole mountain was shaking, he said.

    Rescue operations were underway and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area, said Sharafat Zaman, a health ministry spokesman.

    Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and that “the numbers were expected to change” as deaths and injuries are reported. The chief spokesman, Mujahid, said helicopters had reached some areas but road travel was difficult.

    “There are some villages where the injured and dead haven’t been recovered from the rubble, so that’s why the numbers may increase,” he told journalists.

    The tremors were felt in neighboring Pakistan

    Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said the earthquake intensified existing humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan and urged international donors to support relief efforts.

    “This adds death and destruction to other challenges including drought and the forced return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring countries,” Grandi wrote on the social media platform X. “Hopefully the donor community will not hesitate to support relief efforts.”

    A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished in that quake.

    The U.N. gave a far lower death toll of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.

    The latest earthquake was likely to “dwarf the scale of the humanitarian needs” caused by the disaster of 2023, according to the International Rescue Committee.

    Entire roads and communities have been cut off from accessing nearby towns or hospitals and 2,000 casualties were reported within the first 12 hours, said Sherine Ibrahim, the country director for the aid agency.

    “Although we have been able to act fast, we are profoundly fearful for the additional strain this will have on the overall humanitarian response in Afghanistan,” said Ibrahim. ” Global funding cuts have dramatically hampered our ability to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.”

    Sunday night’s quake was felt in parts of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

    Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened by events in Afghanistan. “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We are ready to extend all possible support in this regard,” he said on the social platform X.

    Pakistan has expelled tens of thousands of Afghans in the past year, many of them living in the country for decades as refugees.

    At least 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan so far this year, according to a June report by UNHCR.

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  • Hundreds of casualties feared after 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocks eastern Afghanistan

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    More than 200 people were killed and hundreds more injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan’s eastern region on Sunday, according to state-run media.Rescue workers have been mobilized in several districts of the mountainous region, near the Pakistan border, but there are fears the death toll could rise further.Relief teams have struggled to reach some of the more remote communities and their progress has been hampered by landslides, reported the Taliban’s state-run Bakhtar News Agency (BNA).The earthquake hit just before midnight, 27 kilometers (16.77 miles) north-east of Jalalabad, a city of about 200,000 people in Nangarhar Province, and at a depth of 8km (4.97 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).On Monday, local officials said at least 250 people had been killed and more than 500 others injured in several districts of the mountainous northeastern Kunar province, BNA reported.”The number of casualties and injuries is high, but since the area is difficult to access, our teams are still on site,” health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.Nearly half a million people likely felt strong to very strong shaking, which can result in considerable damage to poorly built structures, according to the USGS.Ahmad Zameer, 41, a resident in Kabul, told CNN the earthquake was strong and jolted his neighborhood more than 100 miles from the epicenter. He added that everyone from the nearby apartment buildings rushed to the street in fear of being trapped inside.”Unfortunately, tonight’s earthquake has had human casualties and financial damages in some of our eastern provinces,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X.”Right now, local officials and residents are making all the efforts to rescue affected ones. Support teams from the capital and nearby provinces are also on their way. All available resources will be used for the rescue and relief of the people,” he added.The earthquake was also felt in several cities in neighboring Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said in a statement.The region was hit by at least five aftershocks, the strongest measuring 5.2-magnitude in the hours after the initial quake, according to USGS.An orange alert was issued by the USGS PAGER system, which predicts economic and human loss after earthquakes.”Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,” it said.Afghanistan has a long history of earthquakes, many of which happen in the mountainous Hindu Kush region that borders Pakistan. In October 2023, more than 2,000 people died after a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan – one of the deadliest quakes to hit the country in recent years.This is a developing story and will be updated.

    CNN —

    More than 200 people were killed and hundreds more injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan’s eastern region on Sunday, according to state-run media.

    Rescue workers have been mobilized in several districts of the mountainous region, near the Pakistan border, but there are fears the death toll could rise further.

    Relief teams have struggled to reach some of the more remote communities and their progress has been hampered by landslides, reported the Taliban’s state-run Bakhtar News Agency (BNA).

    The earthquake hit just before midnight, 27 kilometers (16.77 miles) north-east of Jalalabad, a city of about 200,000 people in Nangarhar Province, and at a depth of 8km (4.97 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

    On Monday, local officials said at least 250 people had been killed and more than 500 others injured in several districts of the mountainous northeastern Kunar province, BNA reported.

    “The number of casualties and injuries is high, but since the area is difficult to access, our teams are still on site,” health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.

    Aimal Zahir/AFP/Getty Images

    An injured Afghan man receives treatment at a hospital after an earthquake in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad on September 1, 2025.

    Nearly half a million people likely felt strong to very strong shaking, which can result in considerable damage to poorly built structures, according to the USGS.

    Ahmad Zameer, 41, a resident in Kabul, told CNN the earthquake was strong and jolted his neighborhood more than 100 miles from the epicenter. He added that everyone from the nearby apartment buildings rushed to the street in fear of being trapped inside.

    “Unfortunately, tonight’s earthquake has had human casualties and financial damages in some of our eastern provinces,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X.

    “Right now, local officials and residents are making all the efforts to rescue affected ones. Support teams from the capital and nearby provinces are also on their way. All available resources will be used for the rescue and relief of the people,” he added.

    The earthquake was also felt in several cities in neighboring Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said in a statement.

    The region was hit by at least five aftershocks, the strongest measuring 5.2-magnitude in the hours after the initial quake, according to USGS.

    An orange alert was issued by the USGS PAGER system, which predicts economic and human loss after earthquakes.

    “Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,” it said.

    Afghanistan has a long history of earthquakes, many of which happen in the mountainous Hindu Kush region that borders Pakistan. In October 2023, more than 2,000 people died after a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan – one of the deadliest quakes to hit the country in recent years.

    This is a developing story and will be updated.

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  • California providers see ‘chilling effect’ if Trump ban on immigrant benefits is upheld

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    If the Trump administration succeeds in barring undocumented immigrants from federally funded “public benefit” programs, vulnerable children and families across California would suffer greatly, losing access to emergency shelters, vital healthcare, early education and life-saving nutritional support, according to state and local officials who filed their opposition to the changes in federal court.

    The new restrictions would harm undocumented immigrants but also U.S. citizens — including the U.S.-born children of immigrants and people suffering from mental illness and homelessness who lack documentation — and put intense stress on the state’s emergency healthcare system, the officials said.

    Head Start, which provides tens of thousands of children in the state with early education, healthcare and nutritional support, may have to shutter some of its programs if the new rules barring immigrants withstand a lawsuit filed by California and other liberal-led states, officials said.

    In a declaration filed as part of that litigation, Maria Guadalupe Jaime-Milehan, deputy director of the child care and developmental division of the California Department of Social Services, wrote that the restrictions would have an immediate “chilling effect” on immigrant and mixed-status families seeking support, but also cause broader “ripple effects” — especially in rural California communities that rely on such programs as “a critical safety net” for vulnerable residents, but also as major employers.

    “Children would lose educational, nutritional, and healthcare services. Parents or guardians may be forced to cut spending on other critical needs to fill the gaps, and some may even be forced out of work so they can care for their children,” Jaime-Milehan said.

    Rural communities would see programs shutter, and family providers lose their jobs, she wrote.

    Tony Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction, warned in a declaration that the “chilling effect” from such rules could potentially drive away talented educators who disagree with such policies and decide to “seek other employment that does not discriminate against children and families.”

    Thurmond and Jaime-Milehan were among dozens of officials in 20 states and the District of Columbia who submitted declarations in support of those states’ lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s new rules. Six other officials from California also submitted declarations.

    The lawsuit followed announcements last month from various federal agencies — including Health and Human Services, Labor, Education and Agriculture — that funding recipients would be required to begin screening out undocumented immigrants.

    The announcements followed an executive order issued by President Trump in which he said his administration would “uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans.”

    Trump’s order cited the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, commonly known as welfare reform, as barring noncitizens from participating in federally funded benefits programs, and criticized past administrations for providing exemptions to that law for certain “life or safety” programs — including those now being targeted for new restrictions.

    The order mandated that federal agencies restrict access to benefits programs for undocumented immigrants, in part to “prevent taxpayer resources from acting as a magnet and fueling illegal immigration to the United States.”

    California and the other states sued July 21, alleging the new restrictions target working mothers and their children in violation of federal law.

    “We’re not talking about waste, fraud, and abuse, we’re talking about programs that deliver essential childcare, healthcare, nutrition, and education assistance, programs that have for decades been open to all,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said.

    In addition to programs like Head Start, Bonta said the new restrictions threatened access to short-term shelters for homeless people, survivors of domestic violence and at-risk youth; emergency shelters for people during extreme weather; soup kitchens, community food banks and food support services for the elderly; and healthcare for people with mental illness and substance abuse issues.

    The declarations are part of a motion asking the federal judge overseeing the case to issue a preliminary injunction barring the changes from taking effect while the litigation plays out.

    Beth Neary, assistant director of HIV health services at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, wrote in her declaration that the new restrictions would impede healthcare services for an array of San Francisco residents experiencing homelessness — including undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens.

    “Individuals experiencing homelessness periodically lack identity and other documents that would be needed to verify their citizenship or immigration status due to frequent moves and greater risk of theft of their belongings,” she wrote.

    Colleen Chawla, chief of San Mateo County Health, wrote that her organization — the county’s “safety-net” care provider — has worked for years to build up trust in immigrant communities.

    “But if our clients worry that they will not be able to qualify for the care they need, or that they or members of their family face a risk of detention or deportation if they seek care, they will stop coming,” Chawla wrote. “This will exacerbate their health conditions.”

    Greta S. Hansen, chief operating officer of Santa Clara County, wrote that more than 40% of her county’s residents are foreign-born and more than 60% of the county’s children have at least one foreign-born parent — among the highest rates anywhere in the country.

    The administration’s changes would threaten all of them, but also everyone else in the county, she wrote.

    “The cumulative effect of patients not receiving preventive care and necessary medications would likely be a strain on Santa Clara’s emergency services, which would result in increased costs to Santa Clara and could also lead to decreased capacity for emergency care across the community,” Hansen wrote.

    The Trump administration has defended the new rules, including in court.

    In response to the states’ motion for preliminary injunction, attorneys for the administration argued that the rule changes are squarely in line with the 1996 welfare reform law and the rights of federal agencies to enforce it.

    They wrote that the notices announcing the new rules that were sent out by federal agencies “merely recognize that the breadth of benefits available to unqualified aliens is narrower than the agencies previously interpreted,” and “restore compliance with federal law and ensure that taxpayer-funded programs intended for the American people are not diverted to subsidize unqualified aliens.”

    The judge presiding over the case has yet to rule on the preliminary injunction.

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    Kevin Rector

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