News

Immigration raids in California’s Central Valley earlier this year caused enough fear to keep nearly a quarter of the students in five districts home from school, according to a report released Monday by Stanford University.

The study evaluated daily student attendance in the districts over three school years and found a 22% increase in absences after immigration raids in the region in January and February.

President Donald Trump has acknowledged that immigration raids are impacting the agriculture business, stating that "our farmers are being hurt badly." Trump noted that many farm workers, who have been employed for years, are not citizens but have proven to be valuable. "We're gonna have to do something about that," he said.

Federal immigration raids could be added to the list of reasons schools can cite when seeking attendance-based funding if a bill from Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains is signed into law. 

Under the bill from Bains, D-Delano, schools that see a decline in attendance following an immigration enforcement action could still receive funding as they would in the event of other outstanding circumstances.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Days after telling lawmakers the California Air Resources Board she oversees does not analyze how its clean air rules could impact costs to drivers and consumers, Liane Randolph is now facing calls to resign.

Democratic Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, D-Delano, on Friday urged Randolph to step down.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano) submitted a resolution to formally censure the California GOP Congressional Delegation after nine members voted yes on the “One, Big Beautiful Bill.”

ARVIN, Calif. (KERO) — Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains has introduced legislation designed to safeguard school districts from funding reductions associated with student absences during immigration enforcement activities.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains is seeking answers from the state Attorney General’s Office on why former Kern County supervisor Zack Scrivner isn’t facing child sexual abuse charges.

In a news release on Wednesday, Bains (D-Delano) noted a lengthy investigation determined Scrivner got into bed with and inappropriately touched a child — but wasn’t charged with a crime reflecting those findings.

Kern County lawmakers are crossing party lines to come together and urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to keep a convicted child murderer in jail.

Asm. Jasmeet Bains (D–Delano), Asm. Stan Ellis (R–Bakersfield) and Sen. Shannon Grove (R–Bakersfield) penned a joint letter asking Newsom to overturn a decision from the California Board of Parole Hearings to grant parole to convicted murderer Josue Herrera.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A proposed bill that aims to protect California schools from defunding caused by low attendance rates amid the recent immigration raids passed out of the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday.

California uses a school district’s Average Daily Attendance to determine its funding. The ADA is calculated by taking the total number of days of student attendance and dividing it by the total number of school days.

While the administration has pledged not to cut Medicare or Social Security, local and state officials say uncertainty surrounding the federal budget is forcing them to operate cautiously.

"I really worry about the lives that are going to be lost because of these cuts," said Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, D-Delano, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care.