ChicoSol

Chico residents to ask City Council for sanctuary designation On Tuesday, from the floor, a resolution proposal

women's march on chico — photo by Karen Laslo

Participant in January’s Women’s March on Chico

by Leslie Layton

A group of Chico residents plan to address the City Council Tuesday to request a “sanctuary” designation for the city – a statement that is important and controversial in an era of harsh immigration enforcement.

Elizabeth Alaniz, assistant director of Chico State’s Financial Aid and Scholarship office, said students from several campus groups plan to address the City Council on the issue at the panel’s Feb. 21 meeting. And Chico author and Zen Buddhist Lin Jensen said he has composed a draft resolution for a sanctuary designation after conducting extensive research on the matter. read more

Thousands evacuated as officials worry about spillway

Sweeping dragnet a cornerstone of new immigration policy Mobilizations in defense of immigrants help, attorney says

by Leslie Layton

President Donald Trump is quickly re-shaping immigration policy with an emphasis on harsh enforcement, in part by issuing executive orders that cast a much wider deportation net.

In a telephone briefing Wednesday with members of the ethnic press nationwide, immigration attorneys discussed two orders signed Jan. 25 – two days prior to the Jan. 27 order that came to be known as the Muslim ban. The earlier pair of executive orders received scant media coverage until recently, when stories began appearing about the deportations of long-term U.S. residents who have no criminal record. read more

‘Mobilize Chico’ opposes racism, supports community members Trump presidency propels activism

by Dave Waddell

Chris Nichols, a retired school teacher and counselor, had never gone in much for activism. That all changed with the election of President Donald Trump.

“All of a sudden, I’m upset,” she said.

On Jan. 25, Nichols was standing with seven others from the group Mobilize Chico at the intersection of Warner and West Sacramento avenues holding a pink sign with the message: “Stay Loud 4 Equality.” read more

Women’s March in Chico Participants Speak up for Diversity, Women, Immigrants

Chico Women’s March organizers said about 2,000 people showed up to participate in the Jan. 21 event. The march and City Plaza rally were held in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington, D.C., and marches were underway in major U.S. cities and around the world. Many of the participants said it was the largest march they had seen in Chico. read more

Fear grips communities as immigrants prepare for new administration Information is empowering, rights advocates say

by Leslie Layton

Scared.

That’s how attorneys and immigrant rights advocates were describing their clients in the weeks preceding the inauguration of a president whose campaign was laced with hostile anti-immigrant rhetoric.

As a candidate, Donald Trump talked about massive deportations and vowed to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that has brought relief to hundreds of thousands of young adults who were raised in this country without legal status. read more

Four confirmed deaths of unhoused residents this year

ChicoSol has confirmed the following deaths, all taking place on streets or in encampments in 2024:

River Chase Bernreuter, 25. His body was found Feb. 2 on Business Lane.

Kenneth James Corbitt, 44, whose body was found Feb. 5 on Fair Street.

Francisco Franco, 61, of Chico. His body was found Feb. 15 on Business Lane.

Julie Bergstrom, 41, of Oroville. Bergstrom was found dead Feb. 29 at the Alternate Site encampment approved by the City for unhoused individuals.

City attorney: “Public take over” was an emergency

In a Jan. 17 email to ChicoSol, City Attorney John Lam said the City was not in violation of the Brown Act when it held a Jan. 6 emergency meeting.

Lam said the use of City property near The Hands sculpture in back of the Municipal Center by the nonprofit Safe Space the previous day had amounted to a “public take over.”

Safe Space, which operates an emergency winter sheltering program, ran intake in the space from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5, an operation that it says proceeded smoothly. The group’s leadership said it believed that it was using public property as defined in the City code, and wasn’t required to get special permission.