By admin 
The shooting of Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez by federal immigration agents on Tuesday is a sickening reminder. It is a sign of what’s to come if California doesn’t do more to protect its communities from government agents behaving like a lawless occupying force.
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After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota shot and killed Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January, the shooting of Mendoza, a native of El Salvador living in the rural California town of Patterson, should not be a surprise to anyone.
Coming into contact with President Trump’s anti-immigration forces, these thugs who hide their evil behind masks and federal badges, is a deadly proposition for anyone, regardless of their citizenship status.
Now, someone who has lived in California for years, according to his lawyer, was shot by federal law enforcement for little more than driving with a broken windshield.
Where is California’s outrage?
Mendoza’s fiancee — only identified by her first name, Cindy — is an American citizen. So is the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, who surely is too young to understand why daddy isn’t home. Cindy said she believes the Turlock Police Department provided ICE with details of her fiancé’s immigration status after a routine traffic stop. Mendoza’s lawyer said he is not subject to a deportation order.
California may not be able to stop ICE agents from infiltrating our borders, but we can and must stop our law enforcement officers from collaborating with them.
If Cindy’s assertion is true, then the Turlock Police Department played a role in Mendoza’s shooting as much as the ICE agent who pulled his gun.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s official statement, that California “expect(s) our federal law enforcement partners to appropriately collaborate with state and local law enforcement as this matter is investigated,” is a warning without teeth to a federal agency that has clearly run amok.
We need more.
Senate Bill 747 — also known as the “No Kings Act” — authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, seeks to hold ICE, Border Patrol and other federal officers accountable for their lawless behavior. It would close a legal loophole that holds federal officers to a different standard than state and local law enforcement when it comes to constitutional violations.
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There is also growing public will for disbanding ICE: According to a recent poll by Politico and the UC Berkeley Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research, California Democrats overwhelmingly hate the agency and two-thirds say it should be disbanded entirely.
Two-fifths of independents said ICE hould be either disbanded or reformed, and a third of Republicans said it should be reformed, according to the poll.
“We’re putting a stop to the impunity that’s enabling ICE and Border Patrol’s sickening terror rampage through American cities,” Wiener said in a statement. “We must close the loophole that makes it almost impossible for the families … to seek justice for their family members.”
We don’t know if Mendoza is going to live. His family and attorneys have only been told that he is in “stable” condition.
The list of the dead is growing: Silverio Villegas González in Chicago. Isaias Sanchez Barboza in Texas. Keith Porter in Los Angeles. Good and Pretti in Minneapolis. All were shot and killed by ICE agents. There are dozens more who have died while in ICE custody, held in cages with little access to food or water.
Our declarations, resolutions and sanctuary cities are full of strong words, but what force do they have on the ground? We must stop local law enforcement collaboration with ICE and strengthen accountability.
Right now, Mendoza fights for his life in a Modesto hospital while his attorneys and family are denied access to his bedside. He did nothing to deserve this fate.
Californians like to believe we are a nation-state, shielded from the evils inflicted on the rest of the country by this second Trump administration on those states with less protection. Mendoza’s shooting proves the bubble we’re living in is easily popped.
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Now what are we going to do about it?
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 11:33 AM.