Letters: California shouldn’t subsidize harm caused by ICE

Faith in Action East Bay executive director Todd Benson urges California Senator Jerry McNerney to pass AB 2465, which would end government subsidies for companies profiting from immigration detention, arguing that public dollars should not support the tearing apart of families. Separate letters criticize Governor Newsom's handling of PG&E's safety violations and the Trump administration's management of the Reflecting Pool, highlighting broader political and corporate accountability issues.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready... Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. State should not subsidize ICE’s harm As executive director of Faith in Action East Bay, I’m writing to urge Senator Jerry McNerney to pass AB 2465 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill id=202520260AB2465 out of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee and end government subsidies for companies profiting from immigration detention. Public dollars carry moral weight. Rather than subsidizing the business of tearing families apart, our scarce public dollars should be put towards strengthening California’s communities. Our communities feel the cost of inaction: When a parent is detained or deported, the harm ripples through classrooms, workplaces, clinics and congregations. Families lose income. Children lose stability. Community institutions absorb the crisis. If amendments are needed to sharpen the focus on corporate accountability, make them and move the bill. Don’t let narrow concerns allow public dollars to subsidize companies profiting from the harm ICE is inflicting on families in the East Bay and California at large. Todd Benson Oakland Newsom’s PG&E history bodes ill for presidency According to ABC10, three days after Gov. Newsom celebrated his 2018 election victory, one of his major corporate campaign donors caused a mass killing. PG&E pleaded guilty in June 2020 to felony involuntary manslaughter for killing 84 Californians in the 2018 Camp Fire. Newsom’s administration, through the California Public Utilities Commission CPUC , voted 5-0 to permanently waive https://www.abc10.com/article/news/crime/state-forgives-pges-200m-fine-despite-crimes-and-a-judges-warning/103-7416144b-41d1-41bc-ad3e-a39b749d053b a $200 million fine levied against PG&E for safety violations related to the fire. This waiver assisted PG&E in exiting bankruptcy, despite a federal judge’s warning and the company’s guilty plea to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Critics, including prosecutors and fire survivors, argue this move prioritized PG&E’s corporate health over victims, with some alleging political influence due to over $200,000 in campaign contributions https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/gavin-newsom-california-pge-shutoffs-campaign PG&E made to Newsom’s 2018 gubernatorial bid. God help us all if he becomes our next president. Jon Rego Clayton Reflecting Pool debacle exemplifies Trump 2.0 Re: “ Reflecting pool draining appears likely https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/us/politics/trump-reflecting-pool-drained.html ” Page A1, June 22 . Lately, I’ve become enchanted with all the stories I see about the Reflecting Pool. It’s become so emblematic of our bungler-in-chief that I no longer need to pummel myself with his more reprehensible misadventures. The Reflecting Pool fiasco has it all: incompetence, ignorance, arrogance, cronyism, demagoguery, paranoia, malicious prosecution, scapegoating and unfounded accusations. In short, the Washington Swamp is no longer a figure of speech. It’s come to life in 2,000 feet of blooming green algae and peeling blue paint running from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. Jim Wolpman Walnut Creek Limit campaign funds for nation’s birthday The stark political divides in this country stir strong emotions as our nation’s 250th birthday arrives. The Fourth of July should bring us together, but in recent years, it has done little more than accentuate our fault lines. It doesn’t have to be this way. The Bay Area is home to people of every political persuasion, but we can all agree that unlimited, untraceable spending undermines our elections and the promise of self-government. Over 70% of Americans support setting reasonable limits on money in elections. Twenty-five states, including California, have called for a constitutional amendment restoring that authority to Congress and the states. I urge my fellow Bay Area residents to learn more about this issue and to talk with our elected representatives about how to make this vital amendment a reality. Daniel Escobar Oakland Baby Jaxon victim of one cruelty after another Re: “ Abuse warnings ignored https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/21/baby-jaxons-suspicious-injuries-triggered-urgent-santa-clara-county-warning-he-was-marked-safe-anyway/ ” Page A1, June 21 . It brings me to tears to read the account of Jaxon Juarez’s short life and tragic death. One wonders how this autistic child processed the meaning of life, of his life. He was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. His mother died, and he was passed on to two other caretakers, the last of whom left him under the supervision of his suspected sexual molester, tormentor and killer. The world, offering nothing but cruelty and misery, failed him. It seems he wasn’t spared any kind of pain in his short two-year life. How could an innocent child endure all that? What did he look forward to as he woke up each day? What final thoughts went through his little mind as he slipped into unconsciousness? Did he know that he, too, was a child of God? Kathryn Tomaino Los Altos County inaction puts children at risk Re: “ Abuse warnings ignored https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/21/baby-jaxons-suspicious-injuries-triggered-urgent-santa-clara-county-warning-he-was-marked-safe-anyway/ ” Page A1, June 21 . Once again, we read an article about a child’s death and the apparent inaction and negligence of the Santa Clara County child welfare agency. All of these cases have obvious red flags, and yet nothing is done. Kids are dying. Where is the accountability? Where is the change to prevent these deaths? What do these employees do all day? Protecting the safety of these kids should be their first priority and they are failing. It is simply shocking to read about these kids being placed and kept in homes where they never should have been. Shame on Santa Clara County for not fixing this. Jack Kent Los Gatos