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VISIT HEYSOCAL.COM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 02-FEBRUARY 08, 2026
NO. 261
VOL. 14,
Community, health coalition proposes halfcent LA County tax for health care; 2 city tax measures move closer to June ballot
Report: More than 170 US citizens have been held by immigration agents. They’ve been kicked, dragged and detained for days.
By City News Service
This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive their biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
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epresentatives of various community groups, health organizations and labor unions announced the creation of a coalition Wednesday calling for a half-cent sales tax in Los Angeles County they say will protect health care services for residents who could lose coverage due to federal cuts to Medi-Cal. Restore Healthcare for Angelenos is calling on the county Board of Supervisors to place the proposed halfcent tax on the June ballot to offset the federal cuts. If the board does not act, the group plans to organize a petition drive to qualify an initiative for the November ballot. “Healthcare access is not optional, it is essential,” Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John’s Community Health and spokesman for Restore Healthcare for Angelenos, said in a statement. “Without local action, federal cuts will result in people seeking fewer services resulting in overcrowded emergency rooms and worse health outcomes for residents. We are proud to be a part of this coalition and support policy that will protect patients, providers, and the broader public health system when the federal government is failing to do so.” According to the group, roughly 3.3 million county residents are being impacted to federal cuts to Medi-Cal, primarily affecting Latino and Black communities. In addition to the estimated $30 billion funding cut to Medi-Cal, federal legislation also imposes work and
By Nicole Foy, ProPublica
| Photo courtesy of SEIU 721 / Facebook
eligibility requirements, including the completion of 80 hours of employment or community work per month. The group contends the cuts will also slash about $750 million a year from the county Department of Health Services, possibly leading to layoffs of healthcare workers or service cuts at the agency’s four hospitals and various clinics. According to the group’s proposal, up to 47% of the money raised the sales tax would provide free or reduced cost health services to uninsured, low- income county residents. Another 22% would support the county Department of Health Services and 10% would go to the county Department of Public Health. Additional funding would go to school-
based health programs, correctional health services, nonprofit “safety net” hospitals, in-home supportive services and the Long Beach and Pasadena public health departments. Other organizations joining the new coalition include Service Employees International Union locals 721 and 2015, the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project LA County, Health Justice Action Fund, and InnerCity Struggle. City of LA The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved two of three revenue-generating proposals with the See Health tax Page 23
intention of placing them on the June primary election ballot. In a 13-1 vote, the City Council approved a legislative package instructing the City Attorney’s Office to draft proposals to increase the transient occupancy tax and to establish a tax on unpermitted cannabis businesses. The proposals are expected to return to City Council for final approval before Feb. 11 — the deadline for council to adopt all resolutions placing measures on the ballot. Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez opposed the proposals and Councilman Curren Price was absent during the vote. For over a year, City
hen the Supreme Court recently allowed immigration agents in the Los Angeles area to take race into consideration during sweeps, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that citizens shouldn’t be concerned. “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States,” Kavanaugh wrote, “they promptly let the individual go.” But that is far from the reality many citizens have experienced. Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. One of those women had already had the door of her home blown off while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watched. About two dozen Americans have said they were held for more than a day without being able to phone lawyers or loved ones. Videos of U.S. citizens being mistreated by immigration agents have filled social media feeds, but there is little clarity on the overall picture. The government does not track how often immigration agents hold Americans. So ProPublica created its own count. We compiled and reviewed every case we could find of agents holding citizens
against their will, whether during immigration raids or protests. While the tally is almost certainly incomplete, we found more than 170 such incidents during the first nine months of President Donald Trump’s second administration. Among the citizens detained are nearly 20 children, including two with cancer. That includes four who were held for weeks with their undocumented mother and without access to the family’s attorney until a congresswoman intervened. Immigration agents do have authority to detain Americans in limited circumstances. Agents can hold people whom they reasonably suspect are in the country illegally. We found more than 50 Americans who were held after agents questioned their citizenship. They were almost all Latino. Immigration agents also can arrest citizens who allegedly interfered with or assaulted officers. We compiled cases of about 130 Americans, including a dozen elected officials, accused of assaulting or impeding officers. These cases have often wilted under scrutiny. In nearly 50 instances that we have identified so far, charges have never been filed or the cases were dismissed. Our count found a handful of citizens have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors. Among the detentions in which allegations have not stuck, masked agents pointed a gun at, pepper sprayed and punched a young man who
See Immigration agents Page 04