Early results from California’s primary elections indicate that the Democrat Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, a Republican, will face off for the governorship of the nation’s most populous state in a November runoff. Both candidates emerged from a tight contest that will shape the state’s political direction after the departure of Governor Gavin Newsom, one of the most visible opponents of President Donald Trump. Since 2011, California has been under Democratic control and has become a laboratory for progressive policies that often clash with the White House agenda.

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Two red hearts stood out on her fitted dress, one over her chest and another at the throat, similar to those in images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the entryway to her office in Seattle, Washington, there was a large painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, next to which her clients lit votive candles to pray for their cases. These religious symbols were not chosen at random. Alexandra Lozano called herself “The lawyer of miracles,” an effective marketing strategy that drew hundreds of anxious undocumented immigrants living in the shadows to her law office. “I fix cases that are supposedly impossible to win,” Lozano promised in a Facebook video. A phrase that now rings hollow.

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Before leaving her home in Los Angeles, Laura looks up at the sky and whispers a prayer: “Please God, make me invisible.” She fears encountering immigration agents, getting detained, and being deported to Guatemala. It is the same prayer she has repeated since she arrived in the United States 40 years ago. Since then, seven presidents have served, and there have been multiple failed attempts to regularize millions of undocumented people. But Laura continues to live in the shadows, now with less hope than ever of changing her immigration status.

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California voters on Tuesday are set to choose the candidates who will compete in November for the governor’s office and 52 seats in Congress, in primary elections that are seen as a barometer of how a stronghold of progressive policies is responding to President Donald Trump’s second term. Attention is focused on the gubernatorial race to fill the vacancy left by Democrat Gavin Newsom, one of Trump’s most vocal critics and who continues to send signals of a possible presidential bid.

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President Donald Trump was displeased with the outcome of the California primary elections. Convinced his intervention was decisive, he insists that without the pressure he exerted in recent days on behalf of the Republican candidate for governor, Steve Hilton, he would not have advanced to the November runoff, where he will face the candidate backed by the Democratic establishment, Xavier Becerra. “But the only reason they approved Steve Hilton, it was going to be two weeks, they said. And then they approved it that night because the heat was on them because they’re cheating dogs,” the president said Wednesday from the Oval Office.

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As the start of the World Cup draws near, the United States government has set its sights on foreign influencers. Immigration authorities have warned that individuals entering the country on a tourist visa may not use their stay to produce content intended to generate income on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook or other online platforms — a practice that for years has been common among digital creators worldwide.

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Rosa has made two specific requests to her husband in case she’s deported to Guatemala: that he send over her pots and pans, and that he save money for her funeral expenses. “I would go there to die,” says the undocumented woman who has been fighting since January to recover from a stroke that nearly took her life. The Trump administration has her in its sights: a few days ago she received by mail a notice fining her $1.8 million for failing, since 2013, to comply with an order to leave the country voluntarily. It is not an isolated case: more than 65,000 immigrants have received letters imposing unaffordable penalties that together total $36 billion. Organizations and experts have called the measure unconstitutional, extraordinarily cruel and a form of psychological torture.

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California Democrats’ bid to retake control of Congress through redistricting efforts to include more of their voters in heavily Republican areas is running into its first barrier in a race in a district east of Los Angeles. Preliminary counts put two Republican candidates in the top two spots, which would set up a contest between them for the seat in the November midterm elections. In other races that Democrats consider key, their candidates have advanced to a November runoff.

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Carlos Eduardo Espina’s rise began during the Covid pandemic, when he started posting videos in Spanish on TikTok that explained immigration and political issues in a casual style aimed at Hispanics in the United States. He eventually amassed millions of followers across different digital platforms, and soon attracted the attention of politicians eager to reach his audience.

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Esteban had never heard of the prison gang Los Paisas until he was held at the Adelanto immigrant detention center in California. As soon as he passed through the bars of his housing unit, other detainees made it clear he had to choose: join them or join another group made up of Russians, Indians, Chinese, and Armenians. He understood that doing neither would leave him defenseless, so he accepted. There was no initiation ritual and he was not asked to swear allegiance. The rules were simple: protect your own from violent people, settle internal disputes, and keep a measure of order in a place where authority often seemed insufficient. Over the months, deportations and transfers took away people he knew. They were replaced by newcomers, some of whom did not understand the dynamics of detention. He had to teach them. Before he knew it, Esteban was among the most long-standing members and, without seeking the role, he became one of the leaders of the gang.

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