Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents apprehend an undocumented immigrant on Sept. 8, 2022 in Los Angeles.
(
Irfan Khan
/
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
)
Topline:
Under a new state bill from two Bay Area lawmakers, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers and others would have to identify themselves while working in California.
About the bill: The legislation introduced by state Sens. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguín (D–Berkeley) would prevent police at all levels from covering their faces with masks or balaclavas while working — and would require them to be identifiable via uniform.
The backstory: Senate Bill 627, dubbed the No Secret Police Act, comes as tensions have escalated between the state and the Trump administration, which has vowed to carry out the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history. No specific federal law requires law enforcement to wear uniforms or show their faces during arrests. Meanwhile, images of masked ICE agents forcing people into unmarked police vans have proliferated on social media, catalyzing debate over whether such arrest tactics are a form of intimidation.
But under a new state bill from two Bay Area lawmakers, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers and others would have to identify themselves while working in California. The legislation introduced Monday by state Sens. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguín (D–Berkeley) would prevent police at all levels from covering their faces with masks or balaclavas while working — and would require them to be identifiable via uniform.
“We are seeing more and more law enforcement officers, particularly at the federal level, be in our community covering their faces entirely, not identifying themselves at all,” Wiener said at a press conference at San Francisco City Hall. “You can’t tell — are these law enforcement officers or a vigilante militia?”
Senate Bill 627, dubbed the No Secret Police Act, comes as tensions have escalated between the state and the Trump administration, which has vowed to carry out the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history.
No specific federal law requires law enforcement to wear uniforms or show their faces during arrests. Meanwhile, images of masked ICE agents forcing people into unmarked police vans have proliferated on social media, catalyzing debate over whether such arrest tactics are a form of intimidation.
Sen. Jesse Arreguín speaks during a press conference with leaders from community groups throughout Alameda County in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland on Jan. 22, 2025, to discuss support for immigrant families in the Bay Area after President Donald Trump promised mass deportations.
(
Beth LaBerge
/
KQED
)
Arreguín and Wiener say the masks allow officers to evade accountability for their actions, adding that more transparency is needed around who is conducting these immigration operations.
“People covering their faces, impersonating police officers — it erodes trust in law enforcement and it undermines community safety,” Arreguín said.
ICE declined to comment on the bill, saying that the agency does not comment on pending legislation. But in an emailed statement, an ICE spokesperson maintained that masks and other anonymizing practices are essential to prevent “doxxing,” or the collection of someone’s information online to shame or harass them, following high-profile ICE raids in Los Angeles and the mass protests that followed.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fully respects the Constitutional rights of all people to express their opinions peacefully,” the statement said. “That being said, ICE remains committed to performing its immigration enforcement mission professionally in a manner consistent with federal law and agency policy.”
Recently, a North Texas man was charged in federal court for threatening to shoot and kill ICE agents on April 7, the spokesperson added.
Critics have been quick to point out what they say is hypocrisy surrounding ICE officers’ tendency to wear masks.
On June 8, President Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that protesters should not be allowed to wear masks, asking, “What do these people have to hide, and why?”
His administration has also criticized student protesters for wearing masks while protesting the war in Gaza.
Masked immigration officers can create a lot of “confusion,” the state lawmakers behind the new bill said.
“It is critically important that people know who they’re interacting with and that they’re interacting with actual law enforcement officers,” Wiener said.
Meanwhile, a federal bill introduced in Congress this month by Rep. Mike Thompson (D–St. Helena) would prohibit immigration officers from wearing clothing that bears the word “police.”
According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, immigration enforcement will often introduce themselves as police officers even though they are not legally considered to be so. That can confuse immigrant communities and sour the relationship with local police, Thompson argued.
News of the California bill also followed what authorities have labeled a political assassination in Minnesota by a man posing as a police officer.
Vance Boelter, 57, is accused of targeting two politicians, fatally shooting Democratic Rep. Melissa Holtman and her husband, Mark. Boelter currently faces federal murder charges for the attacks.
Some critics have raised concerns that immigration officers operating in masks and unmarked vehicles could sow distrust and make it easier for bad actors to pose as law enforcement.
Jacob Margolis
covers science, with a focus on environmental stories and disasters.
Published November 21, 2025 2:33 PM
Southern California has gotten a drenching lately, which has put a major damper on the potential for large wildfires.
(
Robert Gauthier
/
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
)
Topline:
Southern California — from the coast to the mountains to the deserts — has gotten so much rain over the past month that large-scale, fast-moving fires are essentially no longer a concern. And they likely won't be until well into 2026.
Expert assessment: "Basically, we're out of fire season across all of Central and Southern California," said Matt Shameson, meteorologist with the U.S. Forest Service's South Ops Office, which regularly assesses wildfire conditions.
Fire risk: The assessment is determined by a variety of factors, including dead and live fuel moisture, both of which are well above critical thresholds after recent storms. Vegetation is greening up, soils are getting saturated and dry creeks are starting to run again. As of late November, parts of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties have received between 5 to 9 times more rainfall than is normal for this time of year.
The year ahead: We likely won't see any significant fire activity until April, when grasses dry out. Large scale forest fires in our mountains shouldn't be a concern until the middle of summer at the earliest. Fires along Southern California's coastal mountain ranges usually don't occur until the Santa Ana winds show up in late September or early October.
The big caveat: We can't predict the weather. If we don't see any rain from here on out and only experience hot, dry and windy conditions, fire risk could return within a month. In that case, we'll be back to update you.
Speaking of the weather: The most recent rain storm should be out of the area by Saturday, and the Santa Ana winds are going to be showing up, according to the National Weather Service. With the ground saturated, trees are more susceptible to being knocked down by the wind. For the Thanksgiving holiday, expect mild weather and temperatures in the 70s if current forecasts hold.
Mr. Lopez sits on his bed in his home in Pittsburg on Nov. 15, 2025.
(
Martin do Nascimento/KQED
)
Topline:
As silicosis cases surge in California’s countertop fabrication industry, medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds more relatively young workers from contracting the incurable illness. The state must act urgently to phase out hazardous engineered stone from fabrication shops, as Australia did, they say, to stem a growing health crisis.
The backstory: Artificial stone in the U.S. market often contains more than 90% pulverized crystalline silica, far more than natural stones such as marble and granite. When workers powercut, polish and grind slabs of the material, tiny silica particles are released. If inhaled, they can lodge in the lungs and cause tissue scarring that progressively impedes breathing. Respirable silica can also lead to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other illnesses.
Why it matters: Between 1,000 to 1,500 stoneworkers in California could develop silicosis within the next decade, leading to roughly 285 deaths, according to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The state is home to about 5,000 countertop fabrication workers, predominantly Latino immigrants.
A former stoneworker named Lopez sat confined to his East Bay home, breathing with the help of a whirring oxygen supply machine through clear tubes pronged to his nostrils. After years of making kitchen countertops from engineered stone, the 43-year-old was diagnosed with silicosis, an often deadly lung disease linked to inhaling toxic dust the material releases when powercut.
The once-active father of four now awaits a double lung transplant. He can no longer support his family or walk a few steps without pausing to catch his breath. Two stonecutter friends died after working with the man-made material, also known as artificial stone or quartz. Three others are on a waitlist for lung transplants, he said.
From LAist
Read LAist's reporting on silicosis, including the initial 2022 investigation that revealed a cluster of the silicosis cases among fabricators of artificial-stone countertops in the Los Angeles area.
“I feel desperate just sitting here unable to do anything,” said Lopez, an undocumented immigrant who worked in California for more than two decades. KQED is withholding his full name, as he fears losing vital medical care if arrested by federal authorities.
“It’s agonizing waiting for the hospital to call me so I can finally get the transplant I’m waiting for and be able to go back to work,” he said.
As silicosis cases surge in California’s countertop fabrication industry, medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds more relatively young workers like Lopez from contracting the incurable illness. The state must act urgently to phase out hazardous engineered stone from fabrication shops, as Australia did, they say, to stem a growing health crisis.
Australia banned the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone benchtops in July 2024, forcing major manufacturers to switch to silica-free alternatives in that market, though they still sell their higher-silica products in the U.S. The companies maintain that their products are safe if fabrication shops follow protocols.
A photo of a pair lungs with silicosis used in a Cal/OSHA presentation slide about the disease, and rising number of cases in California, at a public meeting on Nov. 13, 2025.
(
(Courtesy of Museomed via Wikimedia Commons)
)
“Silicosis is preventable when proper safety and health measures are in place to protect workers against inhalation of silica dust in the workplace,” a spokesperson for Cosentino North America said in a statement. “The company continues its efforts in research and development for the ongoing improvement of its products.”
Between 1,000 to 1,500 stoneworkers in California could develop silicosis within the next decade, leading to roughly 285 deaths, according to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The state is home to about 5,000 countertop fabrication workers, predominantly Latino immigrants.
Artificial stone in the U.S. market often contains more than 90% pulverized crystalline silica, far more than natural stones such as marble and granite. When workers powercut, polish and grind slabs of the material, tiny silica particles are released. If inhaled, they can lodge in the lungs and cause tissue scarring that progressively impedes breathing. Respirable silica can also lead to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other illnesses.
To save lives, the Governor’s Office could issue an emergency declaration pausing the processing of artificial stone until a permanent ban is pursued through rulemaking, according to a Sept. 4 memorandum obtained by KQED. Drafted by a committee of doctors, occupational safety experts and worker advocates convened by Cal/OSHA, the letter was addressed to the state board responsible for adopting new workplace safety regulations, but was not sent.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office did not respond to requests for comment about his position on banning engineered stone in fabrication shops. A spokesperson with the Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees press requests for both Cal/OSHA and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, said the draft had not been vetted.
“The memo referenced … is an incomplete working draft by the Silica Technical Committee and not by Cal/OSHA. None of the recommendations are final,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Cal/OSHA continually works to protect the health and safety of California’s workers and enforces all regulations adopted by the Board.”
Several board members have publicly expressed dismay for months at the steep climb in silicosis cases, but the agenda for their next meeting on Thursday does not include decision-making on artificial stone.
Maegan Ortiz, director of the Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California, said that although the state approved stricter standards nearly two years ago, California has made little progress in protecting stoneworkers still inhaling engineered stone dust on the job.
Lopez adjusts the breathing tube connected to his oxygen tank in his home in Pittsburg on Nov. 15, 2025. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)
(
Martin do Nascimento
/
KQED
)
“We need to ban this. I think the concern is great, but it is kind of like thoughts and prayers in the face of other crises that don’t go far enough,” said Ortiz, whose organization has been surveying stoneworkers in Los Angeles County, the state’s silicosis epicenter. “We’ve seen the conditions ourselves on the ground in terms of the amount of dust that is there, even in these bigger shops that are following the regulations. Workers see the dust, they carry it on them.”
Since 2019, more than 430 workers have been confirmed with silicosis in California, including 25 who died and 48 who underwent a lung transplant, according to state public health officials tracking reported cases. Half of those sick are located in Los Angeles County. Nearly all are Latino men, some in their 20s, who said they didn’t know how dangerous artificial stone dust could be. About 40% of silicosis cases were identified this year.
Lopez said he worked in licensed shops using safety gear and methods his supervisors said would protect him. He wore filter masks and cut and polished engineered stone with machines that covered slabs with water to suppress dust. But mounting evidence shows silica particles in artificial stone dust are so small and toxic that it doesn’t take much to hurt workers. Silica can penetrate filter masks and remain on workers’ clothes and tools when water dries.
Australia tried banning drycutting of engineered stone, similar to Cal/OSHA rules in place since December 2023 and a bill Newsom signed last month, SB 20. Australia also tried additional safeguards, including full-face powered air-purifying respirators, ventilation systems and monitoring, like California’s strict regulations that go beyond federal requirements. But in both places, experts say, the sophisticated and costly measures are not realistic for an industry made up of mostly small shops with only a few workers.
“I think it’s completely unfeasible,” said Dr. Ryan Hoy, a respiratory physician and researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. “I often use the analogy that you can work with asbestos safely, you can work with uranium safely, but you need to have in place very sophisticated control measures.”
In California, most fabrication shops are not complying with drycutting bans, respiratory protection, monitoring or other requirements. About 94% of 107 worksites investigated by Cal/OSHA had violations of the silica regulations as of Oct. 16.
Lopez’s wife said she wished her husband had more accurate information from manufacturers, vendors and employers before working with artificial stone so he could have chosen whether to take on the risk. Considering the impact of his disease on her family, the 41-year-old choked back tears.
“It’s painful because I’ve always seen him working. He’s always looked out for us. He’s the pillar of our family,” she said in Spanish, adding that her youngest son is 3. “It hurts us deeply.”
Lopez’s state disability benefits have run out, he said, and the family relies on financial support from their oldest daughter, a 20-year-old medical assistant. He became one of hundreds of workers in the U.S. and other countries who have sued top manufacturers of engineered stone — including Minnesota-based Cambria, Israel-based Caesarstone and Cosentino, headquartered in Spain — claiming silica-related injuries.
Caesarstone, which generated nearly half of its $303 million in revenue so far this year in the U.S. market, reported claims by more than 500 individuals in its latest financial results. The company recorded a $46 million provision for probable losses, with $24.3 million covered by insurance. But costs could grow, as most of the 320 U.S. claims are awaiting trial.
Caesarstone won one case in the U.S., which remains under appeal, and settled another this year, according to Nahum Trust, Caesarstone’s chief financial officer, during an earnings call this month. Last year, a jury awarded a 34-year-old stoneworker $52 million after finding Caesarstone and other companies liable, a decision the company has appealed.
The company developed crystalline silica-free countertop surfaces in preparation for restrictions in Australia and recently unveiled what it advertises as safer alternatives for fabrication workers in the U.S. Caesarstone’s sales were down this quarter in the U.S. and Canada, due to softness in the market and competitive pressures, according to Trust, but sales are up in Australia.
A stone fabricator places his hand on a table that he cut at his home in San Francisco on Oct. 17, 2023.
(
Beth LaBerge
/
KQED
)
“Our first year of real growth in this market since the silica ban implementation,” Trust said. “This reflects early recovery and the successful launch of our zero silica collection.”
Cosentino said it has also moved to offer newer products due to safety concerns, including a new mineral-surface product with zero crystalline silica that will be available next year globally.
Cosentino, Caesarstone and associations representing manufacturers declined to comment on why they continue selling their high-silica engineered stone products in the U.S. if they have alternatives for the Australian market.
Global demand for artificial stone, a multibillion-dollar industry in the U.S., is expected to significantly grow. In California, sales are expected to increase even more due to efforts to rebuild the more than 16,000 homes and buildings destroyed by January wildfires in Los Angeles.
Consumers prefer the stain-resistant material because it’s often cheaper than natural stone and offers diverse colors and designs. But many homeowners don’t know of the potential health impacts to the workers who make their countertops.
Pulmonologists predict silicosis cases will keep rising, even if exposure to silica dust stopped immediately. By the time workers feel symptoms, the disease has often advanced, Hoy said.
“Unfortunately, that is definitely the tip of the iceberg of workers that are currently affected,” said Hoy, who screened stoneworkers in Australia for silicosis and treats diagnosed patients.
As manufacturers switched to silica-free products in Australia, costs increased, but consumers still purchased countertops for renovations and new buildings. The industry carried on without the old material.
Dr. Hayley Barnes, a pulmonologist who studied silicosis in Australia, said that initially, talking about banning the material in that country felt like a huge ordeal, with predictions that the building industry would collapse and jobs would disappear. But that didn’t happen, she said.
“The companies just made a low-silica or no-silica product, which is currently available in Australia and many other countries,” Barnes said.
Now medical director of UCSF’s Interstitial Lung Disease Program, she worries many cases in California have not yet been diagnosed, and stoneworkers are suffering.
“We could do better. It’s been done elsewhere,” Barnes said. “People would still get their houses and apartments built and workers would be better protected.”
Dr. Sheiphali Gandhi, an assistant professor of medicine at UCSF and a colleague of Barnes who treats dozens of silicosis patients, said she wants California to begin phasing out artificial stone countertops. The move would ensure consumers purchase materials that also protect workers, she said.
“We’ve tried all these regulations, but we still are seeing that the cases are going up,” Gandhi said. “We need to move towards the more effective strategies of elimination or substitution, where we really go for safer alternatives.”
For now, Gandhi must wade through a stack of about 40 additional cases of very sick workers she has been referred.
“It’s just like every month, my mailbox is full of more referrals of silicosis cases,” she said. “The number of cases is exploding. It’s insane.”
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is prepping for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published November 21, 2025 1:57 PM
US President Donald Trump (right) looks on as LA 2028 Chairman Casey Wasserman (left) speaks during an event on creating a White House 2028 Olympics task force.
(
Brendan Smialowski
/
Getty Images
)
Topline:
The Los Angeles Olympic organizing committee has added a number of Republicans and prominent allies of President Donald Trump to its ranks, sparking pushback from local progressive labor and community groups.
Who's been added? New members include former House Speaker and California Republican Kevin McCarthy and Reince Priebus, who served as Chief of Staff during part of Trump's first term. Billionaire Trump donor Diane Hendricks, Trump's former banker Ken Moelis and Patrick Dumont, son-in-law of Trump donor Miriam Adelson, also joined the list.
What does the board do? The volunteer board of directors oversees LA28, the private organization staging the Olympic Games.
How does this change the board? The new additions mean Trump allies have nearly the same representation on the board as the city's six appointees.
How are people responding? A community group led by hotel worker union Unite Here Local 11 blasted the move, saying it presents a risk to L.A.'s immigrant communities. Mayor Karen Bass's office struck a different tone, saying she looks forward to working with the appointees.
Read on... for more on the community response and what LA28 had to say.
The Los Angeles Olympic organizing committee has added a number of Republicans and prominent allies of President Donald Trump to its ranks, sparking pushback from local progressive labor and community groups.
The new members include former House Speaker and California Republican Kevin McCarthy and Reince Priebus, who served as Chief of Staff during part of Trump's first term. Billionaire Trump donor Diane Hendricks, Trump's former banker Ken Moelis and Patrick Dumont, son-in-law of Trump donor Miriam Adelson, also joined the list. The volunteer board of directors oversees LA28, the private organization staging the Olympic Games.
The new additions mean Trump allies have nearly the same representation on the board as the city's six appointees.
A group of Los Angeles community groups led by hotel workers union Unite Here Local 11 criticized the board's new make-up on Friday.
"LA28 cannot credibly claim to represent the working people of Los Angeles or stand with immigrant communities while letting MAGA enthusiasts sit at the table," the Fair Games Coalition said in a statement.
That coalition includes the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, ACLU of Southern California and the teachers union United Teachers Los Angeles.
"They are packing the board with Trump acolytes," said Unite Here Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen. "They have crossed the Rubicon, we are losing control of these Olympics. We all need to say enough is enough."
Mayor Karen Bass's office struck a different tone in response to the news, pointing out the mayor's long friendship with Kevin McCarthy.
"Mayor Bass is looking forward to working with LA28’s new appointees to the LA28 Board of Directors and all who are committed to the success of the Games," her office said in a statement. "Especially Kevin McCarthy who — first and foremost — is a friend and had a productive working relationship with the mayor while working together in Sacramento and in Congress."
LA28 declined to comment on the concerns of community groups. But the organization did share a statement from LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman.
"We are thrilled to welcome this accomplished group to the LA28 Board who will help create an unforgettable Games for athletes and fans alike," he said.
Federal government's role in the Olympics
The federal government's role in the Olympic Games has been the focus of persistent scrutiny since Trump returned to office. At a recent City Council committee meeting on the Olympics, Councilmember Bob Blumenfield expressed concern that federal funds for the Games might be withheld.
"What I'm concerned about is while they're being cooperative now, at some point they're gonna do what they've done with funding to universities and others. And they're going to create a condition that we cannot meet," Blumenfield said of the federal government. "What protections do we have in place to protect us against that kind of last minute extortion?"
Corrections officers are leaving in droves for ICE
By Keri Blakinger | ProPublica
Published November 21, 2025 1:50 PM
The Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Terminal Island photographed in September.
(
Patrick T. Fallon
/
Getty Images
)
Topline:
After years of struggling to find enough workers for some of the nation’s toughest lockups, the Federal Bureau of Prisons is facing a new challenge: Corrections officers are jumping ship for more lucrative jobs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Why now: This is one of the unintended consequences of the Trump administration’s focus on mass deportations. For months, ICE has been on a recruiting blitz, offering $50,000 starting bonuses and tuition reimbursement at an agency that has long offered better pay than the federal prison system. For many corrections officers, it’s been an easy sell.
Why it matters: The exodus — at detention centers and maximum-security prisons from Florida to Minnesota to California — comes amid shortages of critical supplies, from food to personal hygiene items, and threatens to make the already grim conditions in federal prisons even worse.
After years of struggling to find enough workers for some of the nation’s toughest lockups, the Federal Bureau of Prisons is facing a new challenge: Corrections officers are jumping ship for more lucrative jobs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This is one of the unintended consequences of the Trump administration’s focus on mass deportations. For months, ICE has been on a recruiting blitz, offering $50,000 starting bonuses and tuition reimbursement at an agency that has long offered better pay than the federal prison system. For many corrections officers, it’s been an easy sell.
Workers at detention centers and maximum-security prisons from Florida to Minnesota to California counted off the number of co-workers who’d left for ICE or were in the process of doing so. Six at one lockup in Texas, eight at another. More than a dozen at one California facility, and over four dozen at a larger one. After retirements and other attrition, by the start of November the agency had lost at least 1,400 more staff this year than it had hired, according to internal prison data shared with ProPublica.
“We’re broken and we’re being poached by ICE,” one official with the prison workers union told ProPublica. “It’s unbelievable. People are leaving in droves.”
The exodus comes amid shortages of critical supplies, from food to personal hygiene items, and threatens to make the already grim conditions in federal prisons even worse. Fewer corrections officers means more lockdowns, less programming and fewer health care services for inmates, along with more risks to staff and more grueling hours of mandatory overtime. Prison teachers and medical staff are being forced to step in as corrections officers on a regular basis.
And at some facilities, staff said the agency had even stopped providing basic hygiene items for officers, such as paper towels, soap and toilet paper.
“I have never seen it like this in all my 25 years,” an officer in Texas told ProPublica. “You have to literally go around carrying your own roll of toilet paper. No paper towels, you have to bring your own stuff. No soap. I even ordered little sheets that you put in an envelope and it turns to soap because there wasn’t any soap.”
The prisons bureau did not answer a series of emailed questions. In a video posted Wednesday afternoon, Deputy Director Josh Smith said that the agency was “left in shambles by the previous administration” and would take years to repair. Staffing levels, he said, were “catastrophic,” which, along with crumbling infrastructure and corruption, had made the prisons less safe.
Smith said that he and Director William Marshall III had been empowered by the Trump administration to “confront these challenges head-on,” adding, “Transparency and accountability are the cornerstones of our mission to make the BOP great again, and we’re going to expose the truth and hold those responsible accountable.”
ICE, meanwhile, responded to a request for comment by forwarding a press release that failed to answer specific questions but noted that the agency had made more than 18,000 total tentative job offers as of mid-September.
The bureau tried tackling the problem with a long-term hiring push that included signing bonuses, retention pay and a fast-tracked hiring process. By the start of the year, that effort seemed to be working.
Kathleen Toomey, then the bureau’s associate deputy director, told members of Congress in February that the agency had just enjoyed its most successful hiring spree in a decade, increasing its ranks by more than 1,200 in 2024.
“Higher staffing levels make institutions safer,” she told a House appropriations subcommittee.
But the costly efforts to reel in more staff strained a stagnant budget that was already stretched thin. Toomey told Congress the bureau had not seen a funding increase since 2023, even as it absorbed millions in pay raises and retention incentives. As inflation and personnel costs rose, the bureau was forced to cut its operating budgets by 20%, Toomey said.
And despite some improvement, the staffing problems persisted. In her February testimony, Toomey acknowledged there were still at least 4,000 vacant positions, leaving the agency with so few officers that prison teachers, nurses and electricians were regularly being ordered to abandon their normal duties and fill in as corrections officers.
Then ICE rolled out its recruiting drive.
“At first it seemed like it was going to be no big deal, and then over the last week or so we already lost five, and then we have another 10 to 15 in various stages of waiting for a start date,” an employee at one low-security facility told ProPublica in October. “For us that’s almost 20% of our custody staff.”
He, like most of the prison workers and union officials who spoke to ProPublica, asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation — a concern that has grown since the agency canceled the union’s contract in September following an executive order. Now union leaders say they’ve been warned that without their union protections, they could be punished for speaking to the media.
After the contract’s cancellation, many of the current staff who had originally spoken on the record asked to have their names withheld. Those who still agreed to be identified asked ProPublica to note that their interviews took place before the agency revoked the union agreement.
Earlier this year, Brandy Moore White, national president of the prison workers union, said it’s not unprecedented to see a string of prison staffers leaving the agency, often in response to changes that significantly impact their working conditions. Prior government shutdowns, changes in leadership and the pandemic all drove away workers — but usually, she said, people leaving the agency en masse tended to be near the end of their careers. Now, that’s not the case.
“This is, from what I can remember, the biggest exodus of younger staff, staff who are not retirement-eligible,” she said. “And that’s super concerning to me.”
ICE’s expansion has even thrown a wrench into BOP’s usual training program for rookies. Normally, new officers have to take a three-week Introduction to Correctional Techniques course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers in Georgia within their first 60 days on the job, according to the prisons bureau’s website. In August, FLETC announced that it would focus only on “surge-related training,” pausing programs for other law enforcement agencies until at least early 2026, according to an internal email obtained by ProPublica. Afterward, FLETC said in a press release that it was “exploring temporary solutions” to “meet the needs of all partner agencies,” though it’s not clear whether any of those solutions have since been implemented. The centers did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
At the same time, the effects of the budget crunch were starting to show. In recent months, more than 40 staff and prisoners at facilities across the country have reported cutbacks even more severe than the usual prison scarcities.
In September, Moore White told ProPublica some prisons had fallen behind on utility and trash bills. At one point, she said, the prison complex in Oakdale, Louisiana, was days away from running out of food for inmates before the union — worried that hungry prisoners would be more apt to riot — intervened, nudging agency higher-ups to address the problem, an account confirmed by two other prison workers. (Officials at the prison complex declined to comment.) Elsewhere, staff and prisoners reported shortages — no eggs in a California facility and no beef in a Texas lockup where staff said they were doling out smaller portions at mealtimes.
Earlier this year, a defense lawyer complained that the Los Angeles detention center ran out of pens for prisoners in solitary confinement, where people without phone or e-messaging privileges rely on snail mail to contact the outside world. One of his clients was “rationing his ink to write letters to his family,” the attorney said. The center didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Personal hygiene supplies have been running low, too. Several prisoners said their facilities had become stingier than usual with toilet paper, and women incarcerated in Carswell in Texas reported a shortage of tampons. “I was told to use my socks,” one said. The facility did not answer questions from ProPublica about conditions there.
Fewer staff has meant in some cases that inmates have lost access to care. At the prison complex in Victorville, California, staff lodged written complaints accusing the warden of skimping on the number of officers assigned to inmate hospital visits in order to cut back on overtime. (The complex did not respond to a request for comment.) In some instances, the complaints alleged, that left so few officers at the hospital that ailing inmates missed the procedures that had landed them there in the first place.
Chyann Bratcher, a prisoner at Carswell, a medical lockup in Texas, said she missed an appointment for rectal surgery — something she’d been waiting on for two years — because there weren’t enough staff to take her there. She was able to have the procedure almost two months later, after another cancellation.
Staffers say several facilities have started scheduling recurring “blackout” days, when officers are banned from working overtime in an effort to save money. Instead, prison officials turn to a practice known as “augmentation,” where they direct teachers, plumbers and medical staff to fill in as corrections officers.
“That’s why I left,” said Tom Kamm, who retired in September from the federal prison in Pekin, Illinois, after 29 years with the bureau. “My job was to try to settle EEO complaints, so if somebody alleged discrimination against the agency it was my job to look into it and try to resolve it.”
When he found out earlier this year that he would soon be required to work two shifts per week as a corrections officer, he decided to retire instead.
“I hadn’t been an officer in a housing unit since like 2001 — it had been like 24 years,” he said. “I had really no clue how to do that anymore.”
Augmentation isn’t new, but staff and prisoners at some facilities say it’s being used more often than it once was. It also means fewer medical staff available to address inmates’ needs. “Today we had a Physical Therapist as a unit officer so all of his PT appointments would have been cancelled,” Brian Casper, an inmate at the federal medical prison in Missouri, wrote in an email earlier this year. “Yesterday one of the other units had the head of Radiology for the unit officer so there would have been one less person doing x-rays and CT scans.” The prison didn’t respond to emailed questions.
When the government shutdown hit in October, it only made the situation worse, exacerbating the shortages and increasing the allure of leaving the bureau. While ICE agents and corrections officers continued bringing home paychecks, thousands of prison teachers, plumbers and nurses did not.
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the domestic policy megabill that Trump signed into law on July 4, could offer some financial support for the agency’s staffing woes, as it will route another $5 billion to the prisons bureau over four years — $3 billion of which is specifically earmarked to improve retention, hiring and training. Yet exactly what the effects of that cash infusion will look like remains to be seen: Though the funding bill passed more than four months ago, in November the bureau declined to answer questions about when it will receive the money or how it will be spent.
