Censoring certain journalists, citizen journalists especially, is the road the California legislature has taken, with Gavin Newsom’s full approval. AB 2624 was crafted with the help and support of a major NGO involved in aiding illegal immigrants. The legislation takes direct aim at journalists like Nick Shirley.

The law is specifically crafted to penalize anyone who uncovers waste, fraud, and abuse of the illegal immigration systems in California. Proponents of this egregious legislation are calling it a “privacy” law. 

Starting next year, Californians who provide legal aid, counseling or other types of assistance to immigrants will be eligible for a privacy program that keeps their addresses confidential and out of public records.

Gov. Gavin Newsom approved this latest expansion of California’s Safe at Home program amid concern among Democratic legislators of a rise in reported harassment and threats against immigrants and immigration advocates.

~Snip

Under the new law — Assembly Bill 2624 — immigration support services providers, employees and volunteers can enroll in the state’s Safe at Home Program. The program lets participants, and family members in their households, keep their home addresses confidential and out of public records by providing an alternative mailing address through the California secretary of state. Participants can also vote confidentially.

The law also prohibits a “person, business, or association” from knowingly posting on the internet the address, image or personal information of program participants (as well as their spouse or child) with the intent to “incite a third person to cause imminent great bodily harm to those individuals.”

A person found in violation of the law could be fined $4,000 in civil damages.

CA has taken the Safe at Home program, started 30 years ago to protect victims of domestic violence and rape. Now this legislation is providing protection for fraudsters who game the immigration system. 

People are going to prison in Minnesota because their fraud was exposed. Evidently, the state of California doesn’t want to know how much fraud is in the state. And anyone who exposes an organization or the individuals running the fraud becomes the criminal. 

The folks at Powerline blog have been following the Feeding Our Future fraud cases for years now. Nick Shirley picked up on that and realized the ‘Quality Learing Centers’ were operating fraudulently on a scale of millions. Which has cost the Minnesota taxpayers billions. 

Again, California is defining this as a privacy law, and is going all out to protect those who are stealing taxpayer money for their own benefit. 

Needless to say, Nick is going on the offensive. 

I'm suing California…

California has decided to push for less transparency and create laws that penalize citizens and journalists for looking into potential fraud inside "immigration support services providers." A written demand is all it takes to stop the publishing of a… pic.twitter.com/nFnfDUff0h

— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) September 4, 2026

America First Legal is involved. 

In January 2026, reports circulated that the Trump Administration was considering an anti-fraud task force that would include California. On January 31, Mr. Shirley posted that he had arrived in the state. Just two days later, California Governor Gavin Newsom said San Diego’s Somali community felt “under siege” after “right-wing provocateurs” began showing up at Somali-run daycares. On February 5, Attorney General Bonta called the fraud allegations “reckless,” “false,” “outrageous,” and “ridiculous.” Mr. Shirley then posted that California fraud videos were coming, and on February 16, he released a 23-minute video. Hours later, Governor Newsom’s press office criticized it. The next day, Governor Newsom’s press office asks Mr. Shirley if he only investigates “‘blue’ states.” Three days after that, on February 20, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta—Attorney General Bonta’s wife—introduced AB 2624. On August 22, Governor Newsom signed AB 2624 into law.

Quite the interesting timeline isn’t it? 

As RedState’s Jennifer Van Laar has pointed out, the CA courts have already been weaponized against whistleblowers and citizen journalists. 

When I left CA almost a year ago due to threats to my safety (after exposing CHIRLA, VC Defensa, 805 Undocufund's role in anti-ICE violence), some questioned the need for me to leave the state.

At the time, I told people, "Gavin Newsom's court system will not protect me if I… https://t.co/xKE7IOVg6n

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) July 7, 2026

Here’s the deal about this. Our First Amendment reads as follows. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Press in that Amendment is simply … PRESS. Nowhere in our Constitution is the press defined as only the “approved” media. In my opinion, California does NOT get to decide who is and who isn’t the press. 

But that is what they are doing with this legislation. AB 2624 is criminalizing the press in order to keep the fraud, waste, and abuse in the state hidden under the rug. 

Mia Bonta, Attorney General Rob Bonta, the California legislature, and Gavin Newsom have brought this Constitutional violation upon themselves. 

Again, this legislation isn’t about protecting someone from being targeted and doxxed out of the blue. Nope, it’s all about protecting the fraud racket in the state while censoring our freedom of speech and press. 

I’d say Nick Shirley’s lawsuit isn’t the only one we’ll see filed in the near future. 

Feature Photo Credit: The White House/Wikimedia Commons.org/added upon/Public Domain