ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. presidency is like a high-stakes poker game. And for President Donald Trump, immigration is his ace in the hole.

Even when he doesn't have the cards, or when his chip stacks are short, the public's animosity toward the foreign-born keeps him in the game.

According to a new poll by Pew Research Center, Americans have ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Jacqueline Kennedy really had a good bead on the Catholic Church.

"The Church may have flaws," she once observed. "But she sure comes through at birth and death."

On Saturday, people from around the world will get to see the Church of Rome "come through" when Pope Francis (aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio) is laid to rest -- according ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Some things never change. Like the fact that Latinos -- whether they're immigrants or native-born -- always get stuck doing the dirty jobs that no one else wants to do.

We're the folks that everyone wants to get rid of - and no one can live without.

In just the last few weeks, President Donald Trump and administration officials ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- President Donald Trump is giving deportations a bad name. In fact -- in a workaround intended to defy the Supreme Court -- Trump has turned one case into an international incident.

Trump is getting help from Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The enablers are twisting the law into ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- The Trump administration sees a golden opportunity to play the race card against California.

The Department of Justice plans to investigate whether four California universities -- Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine -- are complying with the Supreme Court's 2023 decision prohibiting schools from considering race and ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- As you have likely figured out, President Donald Trump loves tariffs. It's just too bad the businessman doesn't understand them -- and the destruction they cause.

This week, a new round of tariffs is set to take effect. There is an across-the-board 10% tariff on U.S. imports from any country. And there are even higher tariffs on ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a new baby, and it's the talk of the state.

Newsom recently launched a video podcast, and he's done a great job of getting it the oxygen necessary for every one of the more than 3 million shows that currently populate the podcast universe: publicity.

No surprise there. As those of us who are ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- I occasionally find myself speaking to Latino immigrants, legal and otherwise.

I don't waste time telling those folks about their rights. That information is important, but they can get it from immigration lawyers or Spanish-language media.

Instead, I tell the migrants about something they're not likely to hear much about while ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- They say the cover-up can be worse than the crime. And in politics, the spin can do more damage than the scandal.

At this point, what needs to happen next really isn't that difficult.

If the Trump administration would simply acknowledge -- even in gutless Beltway speak -- that "mistakes were made" and offer assurances that said ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- A lot of what I know about public education in America I learned in kindergarten.

Literally. After college, I supported my writing habit by working as a K-12 substitute teacher in my old school district in Central California. The gig included teaching in kindergarten classrooms.

Looking back, that was excellent training for what...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- The topic of immigration law is in the news a lot lately as a result of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement blitz.

With immigration, as with life in general, it's good to be aware of what you know but also what you don't know.

I'm an expert on the immigration debate. At least that's what people tell me when I'm ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- I've known this day was coming. The end of the road isn't far off when you live to be 93 years old.

But it still hurts to say goodbye to a friend, mentor and teacher who was often on my mind, always in my corner and occasionally on my voicemail.

I remember one message that I couldn't bring myself to delete:

"Ruben my boy, ...Read more