• U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) co-wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, insisting that he abandon any plans to use ships for deportation operations. They cited “enormous operational, safety, and legal challenges” and warned that deportations by sea would “take days” and “require many security personnel and cost the taxpayer millions of dollars.” The legislators also described the issue as raising questions about the misuse of government and military resources. “Reporting indicates that the training ship Golden Bear has been identified as a possible ship,” the Oct. 27 letter stated. “Built over 40 years ago, this aging vessel’s primary purpose has been for research and training. For the last three decades, the Golden Bear has served as a floating classroom at Cal Poly Maritime Academy for cadets seeking careers in the maritime industry, the military, and related fields. Any efforts to use the Golden Bear as a floating prison to hold, detain, and deport migrants would be a dangerous misuse of government and taxpayer property.” In an Oct. 28 release from Carbajal’s office, Carbajal said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “already operates without transparency or public accountability, and deploying maritime vessels as floating prisons will only open the door to potentially more abuses.” Garamendi described conducting deportations by ship as not only impractical, but also “deeply” inhumane. “We have already seen how Trump’s reckless diversion of our government and military resources to support immigration enforcement costs our military readiness. This move would be the same for our sealift capacity,” Garamendi stated. “I will continue to use every lever of oversight at my disposal to make sure we halt Trump and Mullin’s ICE from escalating their already inhumane and cruel mass deportation agenda. Hands off the Golden Bear.”
• On Nov. 4, state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) issued a statement regarding California voters’ passage of Proposition 2, which allows the state to deposit up to 20 percent of its general tax revenue in the state’s reserves. The former limit was 10 percent. “I was proud to lead this effort in the Senate because I’ve seen firsthand how quickly state revenues can change and the difficult choices that follow,” Laird stated. “California voters have taken an important step toward preparing our state for the next economic downturn. … Proposition 2 will help us save more when times are good so we’re better prepared to protect the schools, healthcare, and other essential services Californians depend on when times get tough.”
• U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) joined three of his Senate colleagues to draft a Nov. 3 letter to X (formerly Twitter) Chief Compliance Officer C. Rob DeCampos, asking him to address the platform’s perceived preferential treatment toward Polymarket. The letter alleges that due to Donald Trump Jr.’s role as an adviser and investor for Polymarket, any preferential treatment could help President Donald Trump and his family enrich themselves. “Typically, X allows users to report an ad for a myriad of reasons; however, when attempting to report Polymarket’s ads through the standard X interface, users are denied the option to do so,” the letter stated. “This is not the case with other types of advertisements, including Kalshi, another prediction markets platform offering sports gaming that is illegal in states across the U.S. This seemingly preferential treatment calls into question whether X is attempting to provide an undue competitive advantage to Polymarket and—by extension—the president and his family.”
This article appears in November 12 – November 19, 2026.
