Morning Report: South Bay and the Immigration Crackdown
EM - News Moderator 
San Diego’s South Bay has long taken pride in its deep connections to Mexico.
Enter the second Trump administration, which has thrown the region’s cross-border identity, culture and commerce into chaos.
San Diego hasn’t seen the dramatic onslaught of immigration enforcement that made national headlines in Minneapolis or Los Angeles but as our Jim Hinch reports, it’s suffering nonetheless.
Unpredictable and seemingly random enforcement operations have left residents and workers unsettled. Business and transit ridership are down. Even health clinics are seeing fewer patients.
Meanwhile, Hinch reports, South Bay politicians and community leaders are grappling with what they can do to help as residents demand support.
Democratic Super PACs Pour Big Bucks Into Congressional Race
Cue the big money.
Democrats are pouring millions into the 48th Congressional District race in the hopes of eventually flipping the seat, reports the Union-Tribune. For now, much of their fire power is trained on each other.
The current outside spending edge tilts strongly toward Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego city councilmember. A pro-Israel group is supporting von Wilpert to the tune of more than a million dollars and the state’s largest labor union has spent more than $100,000 on her behalf.
But Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar is also the beneficiary of some very deep pockets. Campa-Najjar’s longtime partner is U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs, granddaughter of Irwin Jacobs, founder of Qualcomm. Jacobs pumped $500,000 into a group supporting Campa-Najjar.
The Democratic-led House Majority PAC has pledged $4.8 million to the eventual Democratic nominee.
Last week was a rough one for Campa-Najjar, as we wrote in last week’s Politics Report. Laura Loomer came at him because his grandfather was a high-level official in Palestine’s Fatah party. The U.S. Navy also came at him for calling himself an officer in the military, while not stipulating that he is actually a reservist.
Von Wilpert’s team has called him out for accepting money from billionaires. Campa-Najjar fired back and said he’d rather get financial support from groups that support veterans and small donors than a pro-Israel super PAC.
In Other News
- An analysis by Mayor Todd Gloria ranks library and recreation centers by their importance to the community in the midst of big budget cuts. In the analysis he lays out different scenarios for City Council to consider in order to conserve hours and minimize impact on different neighborhoods. (Union-Tribune)
- A Superior Court judge has ordered Rady Children’s Hospital to continue providing gender-affirming care until at least this Friday. (CBS 8)
- Turns out it’s tough to hire dispatchers. The Harbor Police with the Port of San Diego wants special permission to rehire recently retired dispatchers to fill staffing gaps. (Union-Tribune)
- America’s Finest Charter School in Talmadge will shut down at the end of the school year. (10 News)
- City residents who need help covering trash and recycling fees have until Thursday to seek assistance from the city. (NBC 7)
- San Diego Whale Watch reported its first blue whale sighting of the season. (Instagram)
- Correction: We updated the Environment Report from Monday to note that a spokesperson quoted in the story worked for the governor of Baja California.
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Mariana Martínez Barba. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.
The post Morning Report: South Bay and the Immigration Crackdown appeared first on Voice of San Diego.
