• U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) recently introduced the Empowering Striking Workers Act, which allows striking workers to be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. According to Schiff’s office, the bill supports workers who exercise their legal right to collectively bargain and improve their working conditions. Workers would be eligible for benefits the day a lockout begins, the date the employer hires permanent replacement workers, or if the worker is unemployed after a strike. “Workers must be able to meaningfully exercise their right to protest for better wages and benefits and cannot do so if their families are going hungry,” Schiff said in a Sept. 8 statement. “The Empowering Striking Workers Act ensures striking workers can receive the financial support they need while on the picket lines—to help level the playing field with the corporate executives sitting across the table from them who continue to draw a paycheck.”
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) was among more than 60 officials behind a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the use of racial profiling in immigration enforcement. “We have been concerned by recent statements and actions undertaken by DHS that seem to indicate that the department is unlawfully using race as a basis for conducting immigration enforcement operations,” the Sept. 11 letter states. “A strategy of immigration enforcement that singles out law-abiding people solely because of their race is at odds with our Constitution’s commitment to both equality and freedom from unreasonable searches.” Under the Fourth Amendment, federal agents generally may not stop someone unless agents have good reason to suspect they’re breaking laws. According to Carbajal’s office, a growing number of people—many of them Latino—have reported being targeted, harassed, and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents solely because of their race. In July, a federal judge issued an order that stopped ICE from targeting people based on race, language, and work. However, the Supreme Court temporarily lifted the order while the case continues. As a result, ICE agents can resume making indiscriminate stops for the time being, underscoring the need for immediate answers and accountability from DHS on the use of racial profiling in immigration enforcement, according to Carbajal’s office.
• On Sept. 12, U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), and more than 20 other lawmakers co-signed a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought and Education Secretary Linda McMahon calling for the immediate release of $52.1 million in previously mandated funds for the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) and the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP). These programs support educational opportunities for students from agricultural farmworker families. Across the nation, HEP and CAMP programs serve more than 8,000 students whose families work to put food on America’s tables. California receives the largest allocation of HEP/CAMP funding, according to Padilla’s office. The refusal to release this funding that Congress has previously approved threatens to undermine these students’ success, the letter states. “Continuing and potential new grantees, all of which are colleges and nonprofit organizations, were slated to receive funding and begin providing support to students by July 1 but have yet to receive the funding that Congress provided earlier this year,” the letter states. “Grantees have not received follow-up information as to when the funds will be released, which has imposed challenges on individuals and families served by these programs and applicants and grantees (and their employees) impacted by the uncertainty and delay.”
This article appears in Sep 18 – Sep 25, 2025.