A federal lawsuit has been filed challenging the constitutionality of East Palo Alto’s inclusionary zoning ordinance, which requires developers to set aside a share of units for lower-income renters and homeowners or pay a fee, potentially setting a precedent for other cities and counties across California with similar laws.
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP have filed a lawsuit against Sonoma County, alleging that the county’s code enforcement agency has conducted hundreds of warrantless drone flights over people’s homes, violating the California Constitution’s protections against unreasonable searches and its guarantee of personal privacy.
A federal judge has issued an injunction halting the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate Temporary Protected Status for over 60,000 immigrants from Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua, allowing them to remain in the US while litigation continues.
California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero has denounced recent federal immigration enforcement operations at courthouses throughout the state, warning that such actions threaten to undermine access to the judicial system and deter witnesses and victims from coming forward.
Despite years of criticism, California’s state housing laws have been successful in encouraging cities to build more homes, as evidenced by the recent progress made in San Diego County cities such as Encinitas, Del Mar, and San Marcos.
The traditional narrative of red-state cities being the antidote to the coastal housing affordability crisis is breaking down, as cities like Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Boise, and Salt Lake City are experiencing rapid price growth, worsening traffic, and local pushback against new development, due to the physical and economic limits of sprawl.
CARECEN-LA Executive Director Martha Arevalo has denounced the Trump administration’s immigration raids in Los Angeles as a “campaign of terror,” warning that immigrant communities are facing unprecedented levels of militarized enforcement, racial profiling, and rights violations.
The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee voted unanimously to advance the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, a comprehensive federal housing package that addresses the nation’s escalating housing crisis by increasing housing supply, reducing regulatory barriers, modernizing financing systems, improving rural and manufactured housing access, and enhancing oversight and accountability.
The Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies, including the use of masked ICE agents, are reminiscent of the 1850s Fugitive Slave Act and could lead to increased civil unrest and a loss of public trust.
According to ICE data, only 28.26% of the 3,284 people detained in California ICE facilities as of July 7 are classified as “criminals”, while the remaining 70% are not accused of having committed a crime, and U.S. citizens are being wrongfully detained and deported due to ICE’s lack of transparency and oversight.
President Trump’s Executive Order targeting unhoused individuals has been met with strong criticism from legal and public health advocates, who argue that it promotes a false and discriminatory narrative, fails to address the root causes of homelessness, and threatens to withhold federal funding from jurisdictions that do not comply with its punitive measures.
Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren have introduced the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill aimed at increasing access to affordable housing, reducing homelessness, expanding homeownership, and encouraging local zoning reform.
The Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act has been introduced by a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers to address outdated zoning and permitting regulations that are hindering the construction of new rental housing and contributing to the nation’s affordability crisis.
Democrats are embracing an abundance agenda, which focuses on building more housing, transit, and clean energy, but critics warn that it risks enabling corporate capture and exacerbating inequality if not paired with mechanisms to ensure affordability, equity, and democratic accountability.
California has seen a decrease in homelessness, with the city and county of Los Angeles experiencing a 4% drop in total homelessness, but recent budget cuts threaten continued progress.
A new study from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs found no evidence that good cause eviction protections reduce housing development, challenging a key argument used by opponents of tenant protections.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a warning to landlords that housing discrimination against immigrant tenants is illegal and will not be tolerated, and that they must provide tenants with written leases in a language the tenant can understand.
Homeownership is becoming unaffordable for many, including full-time professionals, due to a housing affordability crisis caused by a systemic failure in housing policy, not personal financial mismanagement, and the mismatch between housing supply and economic opportunity.
The American housing market is in crisis, with young people unable to afford homes due to a lack of new construction, high prices, and restrictive zoning laws, and the federal government needs to take action to address the issue.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna stated that his department is legally obligated to comply with federal judicial warrants and has “no choice” but to transfer certain individuals in county custody to ICE, while also reiterating that his department does not honor ICE detainers or requests for transfers.