California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom is drawing heavy criticism for signing a controversial privacy measure—dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” by GOP critics—setting grounds for a potential First Amendment dispute. Newsom is nuts.
Assembly Member Mia Bonta (D-Calif.) first introduced the bill in February following reports of rising threats against immigration service providers. Meanwhile Governor Newsom (D-Calif.) claimed that local Somali daycare providers in San Diego were being harassed after Nick Shirley—a conservative YouTuber and independent journalist— visited the community to investigate claims of government subsidy fraud. California Republicans strongly criticized Governor Newsom for signing the legislation on Saturday, urging federal intervention before the law takes effect on October 1, 2027.
The legislation moves to expand California’s Safe at Home program to include immigration support services providers. The program has been in place since 1999 and purportedly shields the addresses and personal information of domestic violence survivors, elder abuse victims and providers of “reproductive” and “gender-affirming” care. While the text of AB 2624 does not name Shirley, public filming or journalism, Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-Calif.) argued that the law prohibiting the public sharing of immigration workers’ photos or personal details for the purpose of harassment could be used to prevent citizen journalists like Shirley from filming or exposing fraud in California. DeMaio stated Sunday that he plans to request Department of Justice (DOJ) intervention to block the legislation.
“I ultimately believe that this has to go to court because clearly our politicians don’t give a damn about our First Amendment rights. But this is a bad pattern of behavior,” he told the New York Post. However, Bonta asserted that the current climate regarding the topic of immigration has led to service providers feeling unsafe. “Our immigrant service providers are living in fear because of extremists looking to demonize the work that they do and the populations they serve,” Bonta said in a statement Saturday. “That is an intolerable consequence of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that exists right now.”