A fishing charter boat captain who rescued two parachuting Navy pilots after witnessing their unmanned fighter jet plummet into San Diego Bay described what he saw as something from a movie.

The U.S. Navy electronic-warfare aircraft, a Boeing EA-18G Growler, crashed into San Diego Bay near Naval Air Station North Island just after 10:15 a.m. Wednesday.

Capt. Brandon Viets of Premier Sportfishing had 12 people on board his boat for recreational fishing nearby on what he called a "normal day," when everything suddenly went south.

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"Normally we hear jets taking off, because North Island is right there next to us, less than a half mile away," Viets told Fox News Digital. 

However, on Wednesday's trip, he said, a nearby jet was louder than usual, capturing his attention.

"We were cruising out, and when I looked back, I saw a jet at almost eye level, about a few hundred yards off the back of the boat," he said. "I looked to the right of that jet, and I saw two parachutes with two guys falling down."

Viets described the surreal feeling of watching the fighter jet flying, not knowing if anyone was onboard piloting it.

"At that point, I'm like, ‘Holy moly,’" he said. "Like, this is what we see in movies."

Without hesitation, Viets took to the PA system to notify the crew.

"I was telling them, 'Hey, we're going. We've got to go help,'" he said. "'We don't know if they are injured or not or if there are people in the water, and we need to get them out of there.'"

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The crew turned the boat around and sped toward the pilots.

Viets said the boat was going as fast as the engine allowed, and they were soon next to the two soaked service members.

The plane was still in the air.

"As soon as I pulled up to them, I was yelling to them, just to make sure they were OK," he said. "Then I heard this loud noise, boom, and [the jet] hit the water less than an eighth of a mile away from us."

The military aircraft crashed on the other side of the channel, Viets said.

He described a "plume" of sand, muck and water, at least 80 feet high, shooting up from the bay.

Viets' crew retrieved all the boat's safety gear, including safety ladders, and positioned the boat near the pilots in the water.

Both pilots were pulled from the water and were coherent, according to Viets.

"I didn't ask anything about what happened or the plane. I was just worried about them," he said. "I asked about how they were, and their composure was pretty good for what just happened. They were pretty calm and collected about it, but you could still see a lot of [things] going on in their brains."

Crew members instructed the pilots to sit down and later were met by the Coast Guard.

A Navy vessel then picked the pilots up and took them to a nearby dock, Viets said. The fishing boat joined and stayed with the authorities for about 45 minutes.

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The Coast Guard San Diego Office confirmed the service members were then transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Air and Marine Operations.

"Then the Coast Guard said, ‘OK, you guys are good to go,'" Viets said. "We went fishing after that and caught a few fish for a couple of hours."

Both pilots were taken to a hospital and were reportedly in stable condition, according to the Coast Guard.

Viets said the crew assisted a few small private boats in the past that sank, but Wednesday's incident was unique.

"We have assisted smaller vessels, helping someone get off their boat or if they need a pump or something small like that, but nothing involving an aircraft that crashed — or pilots with parachutes in the water," he said. "Nothing like that."

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He added it took a while for the gravity of the day's events to sink in.

"It took me a little while to take it in and just to think, 'I'm glad that plane landed somewhere where it didn't hurt anyone,'" Viets said. "I'm still thinking, ‘Luckily, it landed somewhere safe, not on land, and those two pilots seem to be OK.’"

The cause of the crash has not yet been released by Naval Base Coronado’s Emergency Operations Center, which is investigating.

However, H&M Landing, a fishing company, provided a statement to Fox News Digital claiming the aircraft experienced a "mechanical failure."

A Navy official told Fox News Digital it is unclear if a distress signal was sent out prior to the crash, and the pilots have not been publicly identified.

As of Thursday, the Navy is continuing efforts to safely remove the aircraft from the bay as quickly as possible, while minimizing environmental impact, according to a statement. Weather conditions may delay the timeline. 

In a statement Thursday, the Naval Air Forces said it is leading efforts to assess and coordinate the jet's retrieval, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One is the tactical commander for salvage operations.

"Some pieces of debris may resemble weapons or classified components and may present a hazard if handled," it said in the statement.

The public is strongly advised not to approach, touch or collect any debris that may wash ashore. They are also asked to remain clear of the area and not interfere with the recovery.

The wreck came after a recent string of fatal plane crashes across the country.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with a commercial passenger plane near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Jan. 29, killing 67 people.

In the following days, plane crashes in Pennsylvania and Alaska claimed the lives of 17 people.

Most recently, a private jet owned by Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil was involved in a fatal crash Monday at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona.

A California budget official revealed this week that taxpayers in the Democrat-run state are paying billions of dollars more on healthcare for illegal immigrants than previously known.

Guadalupe Manriquez, the California Department of Finance program budget manager, told the state Assembly Budget Committee Monday the state is "spending $9.5 billion total funds" to "cover undocumented individuals in Medi-Cal" in the current year.

Manriquez explained that this is a "revised number based on the governor’s budget-updated estimates," adding the earlier figure was from the earlier "budget act." 

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"Of the $9.5 billion, $8.4 billion is general fund," she said.

Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio noted that the cost of healthcare for illegal immigrants could be enough to help solve some of the state’s budget woes and "avoid going into the rainy day fund," The Center Square reported. He said the number originally floated was roughly $6 billion. 

A new state law enacted at the start of 2024 ensures that "immigration status doesn't matter" for those looking to apply for taxpayer-backed insurance, according to the state's health department website. 

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California Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher told Fox News Digital in a statement that gutting the insurance availability for illegal immigrants would make a significant dent in the state’s deficit.

"California’s budget is $30 billion in the red, but instead of tightening its belt, Sacramento is doubling down on reckless spending," the Republican said. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

"The state is shelling out $9.5 billion on healthcare for illegal immigrants while emergency rooms overflow, hospitals teeter on the brink and working Californians struggle to see a doctor," he continued. "Rather than making responsible choices, leaders are raiding the rainy-day fund to keep the spending spree going. This isn’t just a budget crisis — it’s a complete failure of leadership."

Democratic Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo said during the hearing that healthcare costs are a major target of the new administration, which leads to uncertainty for the state.

"We know that today unelected Elon Musk and DOGE have taken their sights to Medicare and Medicaid, which is Medi-Cal here in California. And that is, you know, well over half of our budget," the lawmaker said.

The spending discussion comes at a time when the federal government is conducting a major crackdown on illegal immigration, including raids done by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and much stricter policies at the border itself.

Steve Hilton, founder of Golden Together and a Fox News contributor, said it's "yet another example of California Democrats' totally wrong priorities."

"Here's yet another example of California Democrats' totally wrong priorities. They have nearly doubled the state budget in the last ten years, yet over a third of Californians cannot meet their basic needs," Hilton said. 

"We have the highest poverty rate in America. We pay the highest taxes and get the worst results. People are asking, "Where did all our money go?" And here's the answer: ideological obsessions like this — free healthcare for people who are here illegally. People have had enough of all this. There's going to be change in California sooner than people think."

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called on multiple federal agencies to exempt federal seasonal firefighters from President Donald Trump's executive order implementing a federal hiring freeze.

In a letter to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget, Schiff noted that Trump's hiring freeze issued on Jan. 20 had stopped the onboarding of thousands of seasonal firefighters that could harm readiness to respond to wildfires, as Southern California is still grappling with the aftermath of last month's wildfires.

"The memo issued on January 20 states that it does not apply to positions related to public safety, but this onboarding delay is directly contrary to that claim," Schiff said in the letter dated Friday. "Our constituents and communities rely on the hard work and sacrifice of our more than 15,000 seasonal federal wildland firefighters each year."

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"Seasonal firefighters are essential to the public safety of those who live in fire-prone areas, and I am alarmed that federal firefighters are not party to this exemption," he said. "In light of this, I am requesting information from your agencies explaining why the federal hiring freeze has extended to the hiring of seasonal federal wildland firefighters."

Southern California was devastated last month by two major wildfires and several smaller ones that killed nearly 30 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures.

Some of the firefighters subject to Trump's order that halted the onboarding of thousands of seasonal federal firefighters were from agencies that helped in the response to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area, according to NBC News.

A Bureau of Land Management official told the outlet that despite Trump's order excluding positions related to "public safety" from the hiring freeze, federal firefighters are not exempt.

"In the face of increasingly destructive wildfires, we cannot afford to diminish the tools at our disposal to fight these fires," Schiff said in his letter. "Impeding the onboarding of federal firefighters and encouraging the early retirement of others, threatens California’s firefighting capacity and puts communities at great risk. Californians rely on the support of federal firefighters, and I hope you share my appreciation for the essential role these individuals play in keeping residents safe."

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The senator also requested information on how the hiring freeze impacts federal firefighting applicants, the number of voluntary resignations and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency's role in the hiring, preparedness or readiness of federal wildland firefighters.

A major solar power plant project that was granted over a billion dollars in federal loans is on the road to closure, with energy experts blasting the project as a "boondoggle" that harmed the environment.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under former President Barack Obama issued $1.6 billion in loan guarantees to finance the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, a green energy project that consists of three solar concentrating thermal power plants in California. 

The facility was touted by then-Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz as an "example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy." But after 10 years, the federally funded plant is now on track to close. 

"Ivanpah is yet another failed green energy boondoggle, much like Solyndra," Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, an American energy advocacy group, told Fox News Digital in a statement. "Despite receiving $1.6 billion in federal loan guarantees, it never lived up to its promises, producing less electricity than expected while still relying on natural gas to stay operational."

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"Now, with its power contracts canceled, Ivanpah stands as a testament to the waste and inefficiency of government-subsidized energy schemes," Isaac said.

Ivanpah consists of three individual units, two of which were contracted by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in 2009 and scheduled to run until 2039. 

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In January, PG&E announced plans to cancel its agreement with Ivanpah 14 years early, determining that "ending the agreements at this time will save customers money compared to the cost of keeping them through 2039" – ultimately putting Ivanpah on notice for closure.

"The Ivanpah plant was a financial boondoggle and environmental disaster," Julia Dowell of the Sierra Club, an environmental activism group, said of the power plant. 

"Along with killing thousands of birds and tortoises, the project’s construction destroyed irreplaceable pristine desert habitat along with numerous rare plant species," Dowell said. "While the Sierra Club strongly supports innovative clean energy solutions and recognizes the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels, Ivanpah demonstrated that not all renewable technologies are created equal."

This comes after another DOE-funded green energy project, Solyndra, went bankrupt in 2011 after receiving $535 million in federal loan guarantees from the Obama administration.

"Green projects have a long history of expensive taxpayer-subsidized disaster that is getting more so," Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy & Environmental Legal Institute and former Trump EPA transition team member, said in a statement to Fox.

Milloy suggested that further green energy failures could come from projects funded by recent Democrat-backed legislation that aims to push the green energy agenda.

"Soon we will be looking at failures of larger magnitude than Green New Deal spending. No green project relying on taxpayer subsidies has ever made any economic or environmental sense," Milloy said. "It’s important that President Trump stop the taxpayer bleeding by ending what he accurately calls the Green New Scam."

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

The parents of a young California tech whistleblower whose 2024 death was ruled a suicide are now suing the City and County of San Francisco, alleging they violated public records laws by refusing to fulfill their requests for information about their son's death.

Suchir Balaji, 26, was an employee at OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, at the time of his Nov. 26, 2024, death. A San Francisco County medical examiner concluded the next day he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside his apartment.

"In the two-plus months since their son’s passing, Petitioners and their counsel have been stymied at every turn as they have sought more information about the cause of and circumstances surrounding Suchir’s tragic death. This petition, they hope, is the beginning of the end of that obstruction," the lawsuit states.

San Francisco City Attorney's Office spokesperson Jen Kwart told Fox News Digital that once their office is served, they will review the complaint and respond accordingly.

"Mr. Balaji’s death is a tragedy, and our hearts go out to his family," Kwart said.

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"It's really been a nightmare for the last three months for them," one of the family's attorneys, Kevin Rooney, told Fox News Digital. 

Just days before he died, Balaji was "upbeat and happy" during a trip to Catalina Island with his friends for his 26th birthday, the complaint filed Jan. 31 says.

The lawsuit describes Balaji as a "child prodigy with a particular interest in and talent for coding." He attended the University of California at Berkeley, and, upon graduating, was hired as an AI researcher at OpenAI.

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"In that position, he was integral in OpenAI’s efforts to gather and organize data from the internet used to train GPT-4, a language model used by the company’s now-ubiquitous online chatbot, ChatGPT," the complaint says.

By August 2024, however, Balaji "had become disillusioned with OpenAI’s business practices and decided to leave to pursue his own projects." In October, he was featured in a New York Times article titled "Former Open AI Researcher Says the Company Broke Copyright Law," with his photo.

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Balaji alleged that "OpenAI violates United States copyright law because ChatGPT trains on copyrighted products of business competitors and then can imitate and substitute those products, running the risk of reducing the commercial viability of OpenAI’s competitors to zero," according to the lawsuit.

In a Jan. 16 statement, OpenAI described Balaji as a "valued member" of the company's team, and its employees are "still heartbroken by his passing."

Balaji's parents, Poornima Ramarao and Bajami Ramamurthy, allege their requests for more information about their son's death were denied unfairly under the California Public Records Act. They further alleged in the lawsuit that investigators did not take their concerns about Balaji's whistleblower status seriously.

Rooney said there are good reasons for investigators not to disclose certain information about a criminal case to the public.

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"But you should at least communicate with them and let them know generally what's being done to investigate the case," Rooney said. "And if that hasn't been done here because they've made a conclusion that Suchir died by suicide and that the investigation is closed, well … then we do have a right under the law [to view police records].

"When Ms. Ramarao informed the representative that her son had been a whistleblower against OpenAI and had been featured in the New York Times regarding his whistleblower allegations, the representative declined to follow up or seek any additional information," the lawsuit alleged. 

"Instead, the [medical examiner's office] representative handed Ms. Ramarao Suchir’s apartment keys and told her she could retrieve her son’s body the following day. The representative also told Ms. Ramarao that she should not be allowed to see Suchir’s body and that his face had been destroyed when a bullet went through his eye."

Dr. Joseph Cohen, a forensic pathologist hired by Balaji's parents, conducted a private autopsy and noted that Balaji's gunshot wound was "atypical and uncommon in suicides." The 26-year-old also had a contusion on the back of his head, according to the complaint.

Cohen also "noted that the trajectory of the bullet was downward with a slight left to right angle" and "that the bullet completely missed the brain before perforating and lodging in the brain stem."

Fox News Digital reached out to OpenAI for comment.

Two Southern California theme parks are offering free tickets to firefighters and other first responders as a way to say thank you for their work in combating the deadly and destructive wildfires that ravaged the area for the last month.

Universal Studios Hollywood announced their "First Responder Heroes Ticket Offer" on Jan. 31. 

"To thank those who assisted our community, all eligible active U.S.-based first responders can enjoy one complimentary general admission ticket and a 50% savings on up to three additional tickets, now through April 10, 2025," said the park's website.

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The offer is available to "eligible active U.S. based first responders at either a public or private agency/entity," including paramedics/emergency medical technicians, firefighters, police officers/Sherriff's deputies, and National Guard members, said Universal Studios Hollywood. 

"The selfless dedication and tireless resilience exhibited by the first responders in response to combating the L.A. wildfires has been nothing short of extraordinary and we are very grateful to these unsung heroes for their courage during this difficult time," Scott Strobl, the executive vice president and general manager of Universal Studios Hollywood said in a statement. 

Strobl continued, "When these first responders are ready for a much needed break, we look forward to welcoming them to our theme park."

Tickets can only be picked up in person and first responders must show a "valid government-issued photo ID and valid employee ID card for qualifying first responder occupation," said Universal Studios Hollywood.

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On Feb. 7, Disneyland announced a similar offer for local first responders, calling it the "Heroes Ticket." The "Heroes Ticket" is two free one-day "park hopper" tickets, which include entry to both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. 

"We are inspired by the endless dedication and contributions of the heroes who battled the fires that took place in the LA area, and our gratitude for their service is immeasurable," said Ken Potrock, president of Disneyland Resort, in a statement released by Disneyland. 

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"We hope these heroes can enjoy a memorable day with a loved one at our parks, because they certainly deserve it," said Potrock. 

The Heroes Ticket is available for "eligible California firefighters as well as eligible Los Angeles-based law enforcement personnel and emergency medical technicians who helped combat the LA fires in January 2025," said the release from Disneyland. "The Heroes Ticket will also be available to eligible individuals from other departments that provided mutual aid assistance." 

The complementary tickets will be valid Mondays through Thursdays from May 5 through Aug. 7, 2025, said Disneyland, and will require a theme park reservation. 

Additional information will be sent to eligible fire, police, and sheriff departments in April, said the press release. 

President Donald Trump is planning to end bans and restrictions on plastic straws, according to his recent post on Truth Social.

"I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don't work," Trump posted Friday. "BACK TO PLASTIC!"

If signed, the executive order would affect laws in several Democratic-run states that currently have bans or restrictions on single-use plastic straws, such as California, Colorado, New York, Maine, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island and Washington.

The impending executive order comes just months after the Biden administration announced plans in July to phase out single-use plastic in the federal government.

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Blue states such as California and New York currently have laws in place limiting the use of single-use plastic straws in full-service restaurants, unless it is requested by the customer. 

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Democratic states have also adopted the use of paper straws as a more environment-friendly alternative, which has been criticized by Trump for years, who wrote in a 2019 social media post that "liberal paper straws don't work."

"Greatest President ever!" wrote Elon Musk, who is leading efforts at the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, in a post on X regarding the president's plan for plastic straws.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the $50 million special legislative "Trump-proofing" package which he proposed for Democrats to pass following President Donald Trump's election.

Newsom said the bill will "bolster funding for legal services programs that are vital to safeguarding the civil rights of California's most vulnerable residents, including people with disabilities, youth who are homeless, victims of human trafficking and wage theft, people facing unlawful evictions, immigrants and more. 

"None of the funding in this bill is intended to be used for immigration-related legal services for noncitizens convicted of serious or violent felonies," he added in a signing statement. 

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The package, which was passed by the state Senate and Assembly, allocates $25 million to the California Department of Justice to support legal battles against Trump's federal policies, including environmental regulations and illegal immigration. An additional $25 million is designated for legal aid groups to assist illegal immigrants facing potential deportation.

Newsom lobbed hundreds of lawsuits against the Trump administration during Trump's first term.

While Newsom is gearing up for potential showdowns with the Trump administration, he has also been working with Trump to secure federal disaster relief for the Los Angeles wildfires. Trump visited California in late January to meet with Newsom, and Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C., in early February for another round of discussions with the president.

"We’re working across the aisle, as we always have, to ensure survivors have the resources and support they need," Newsom said in a statement on Wednesday. "Thank you President Trump for coming to our communities to see this first hand, and meeting with me today to continue our joint efforts to support people impacted."

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Trump hit back at Newsom after he announced the special legislative session in November, saying on his Truth Social account, "He is using the term 'Trump-Proof' as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again,' but I just overwhelmingly won the Election."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

San Francisco Mayor David Lurie launched the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Hospitality Task Force and secured a key vote in support of the Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance this week as he works to clean up San Francisco's streets and restore common sense policies to the liberal city. 

San Francisco has had one of the slowest economic recoveries from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Images of San Francisco’s open-air drug markets, homeless encampments and empty office buildings have caught the nation’s attention since the pandemic. 

The SFPD Hospitality Task Force will target San Francisco’s business and tourist districts, increasing police presence, dedicating resources to high-traffic areas and offering support to the hospitality industry. 

"Helping people feel safe walking downtown is the key to unleashing our city’s comeback," Lurie said. "We are creating the conditions for a thriving commercial center by launching the SFPD Hospitality Task Force. The Hospitality Task Force will break down silos to increase the police presence across the areas that drive our city’s economy, not just during large conferences, but 365 days a year."

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Major retailers, including Nordstrom and Saks Off Fifth, pulled out of San Francisco’s downtown due to rising crime and dwindling foot traffic. After more than 20 years in the heart of downtown San Francisco, Westfield abandoned the San Francisco Centre mall in 2023, citing a decline in sales, occupancy and foot traffic. 

San Franciscans voted Mayor London Breed out of office in November. She was elected in 2018 and led the city through its struggling pandemic recovery. Lurie, a Levi's heir and political outsider, began his first term as mayor in January. 

He campaigned on cleaning up San Francisco’s streets, public safety, tackling the city’s drug crisis, creating housing, cutting through corrupt bureaucracy and "breathing life back into our downtown."

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"With a safe, bustling downtown, we will attract businesses, shoppers, tourists and conventions, creating jobs, generating revenue and helping us provide better services for everyone in San Francisco," Lurie said of the new task force. 

Also this week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 in favor of Mayor Lurie’s Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance. 

"As a candidate for mayor, I promised San Franciscans that I would work in partnership with the Board of Supervisors to take action on the critical issues facing our city," Lurie said. "As mayor, I am proud to be delivering on that promise today. The Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance gives us the tools to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands. And with our partners on the board, that’s exactly what we will do." 

The ordinance will equip the city with the resources "to get drugs off the street and keep San Franciscans safe" by unlocking funding and expediting the contracting process to allow for expanded treatment options, increased shelter capacity and health initiatives. The full Board of Supervisors will address the ordinance Tuesday for a second and final reading before Lurie can sign the ordinance into law. 

"I don’t think there’s a problem facing San Francisco today that isn’t caused by or made significantly worse by street-level drug addiction," Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said.

"Mayor Lurie’s emergency ordinance aims to surge resources that deliver solutions as big as the problems. This is a needed approach to restore order to our streets, to diminish San Francisco’s attraction as a drug-use and drug-dealing destination and to save lives."

A woman was arrested on Thursday after she took down an American flag and placed it on the muddy ground at a California park, replacing it with a Mexican flag. 

Kern County deputies responded to the entrance of Hart Memorial Park in Bakersfield on Thursday morning after receiving reports of someone trying to steal the U.S. flag, the sheriff's office said in a social media post. 

When park rangers arrived, they found a vehicle on the grass near a flag pole, authorities said. 

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The woman, identified as Crystal Aguilar, 24, allegedly cut the chain that secured the flagpole and threw the American flag on the ground. She then raised the Mexican flag in its place, saying they were on "Mexican land."

Body-worn camera video from sheriff's deputies shows Aguilar saying, "You’re not going to tell me what to do, this is Mexican land, motherf-----."

She then allegedly resisted the deputies and threatened to have them and their families, including their children, killed. 

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"Touch me, motherf-----, and when your kids die," she is heard saying. "I'm Mexican. I'm Aztec, motherf-----, and you're going to pay."

"My dad is going to kill you and all your family," she added. "I'm going to let my father kill you."

Aguilar was arrested and booked into the Lerdo jail on suspicion of trespassing, threatening a peace officer, resisting arrest and vandalism. She is being held on $20,689 bail, according to jail records. 

Aguilar is slated to appear in court on Monday. 

Demonstrators flocked to the streets of major cities across the country on Wednesday, in protest of President Donald Trump’s aggressive agenda on topics like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), immigration, tariffs, gender, labor and more.

Since his return to the Oval Office on Jan. 20, Trump has pressed forward with an agenda that puts America first at all costs, whether it is deporting dangerous criminals living in the U.S. illegally or offering buyouts to federal employees with an ultimatum to either return to the office or search for work.

But with what critics say is a harsh approach to leading the country, Trump has ruffled a few feathers, causing people to protest around the country.

The Associated Press reported that the protests were the result of a movement that has organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day. Websites and accounts across social media called for action with messages like, "reject fascism" and "defend our democracy."

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In Austin, Texas, hundreds of protesters took to the streets after protesting on the steps of the state Capitol building.

As the protesters marched, they held signs that read, "Fight, our lives depend on it," "Impeach the b- - - -," and "Texas deserves better," while donning an LGBTQ+ flag and chanting, "Si Se Puede," or in English, "Yes we can."

Protesters also held signs objecting to any influence billionaire Elon Musk may have on the presidency.

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About 80 miles south in San Antonio, Texas, hundreds of students from the city’s independent school district walked out in protest of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and mass deportations.

Video posted to social media shows protesters holding signs that said, "This country was made by immigrants," and "The People United Will Defend Immigrant Families," and "The People will Defeat Trump’s Extreme-Right Agenda," while holding flags with Che Guevara, a Cuban revolutionary leader and Marxist who was born in Argentina and became a left-wing hero.

The scenes were similar around the country.

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In Los Angeles, students walked out of class and gathered in front of city hall to protest against ICE and for the rights of immigrants.

Protesters in Sacramento appeared in droves at the state capitol, shouting rhetoric against Trump and Musk.

And in Phoenix, people protested Trump’s agenda, particularly things like his stance on there only being two genders, as well as tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

TRUMP GOES TOE-TO-TOE WITH SANCTUARY CITIES OVER DEPORTATION AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SET TO BEGIN

While protesters had their voices heard on similar topics at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., another group protested at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Those at the Department of Labor were heard chanting, "Workers United, We’ll Never Be Divided," in protest of the Trump administration’s push to get federal workers back in the office.

Last week, the Trump administration gave nearly 2 million federal employees the option of taking a buyout and getting paid through Sept. 30, but the deadline to take the deal expires on Feb. 6.

Multiple labor unions have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration regarding the buyouts, mainly on the basis that the funds to continue to pay the employees should they take the offer have not been appropriated by Congress for that purpose.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump — who have very visibly traded political fire but who also have worked together — meet at the White House on Wednesday as the California governor fights to secure more money for people and businesses devastated following last month's deadly wildfires in metropolitan Los Angeles.

The trip is the first by Newsom to Washington, D.C., since Trump took over in the White House and is part of his efforts to obtain additional federal funding to aid in wildfire recovery from the horrific blazes that killed 29 people and destroyed over 12,000 homes and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.

Newsom arrived in the nation's capital on the eve of his visit to the White House, and hours ahead of the meeting he headed to Capitol Hill to hold separate meetings with members of Congress.

The governor traveled east a day after California lawmakers approved $25 million in legal funding proposed by the Democratic governor to challenge actions by the Trump administration. And the legislature also allocated another $25 million for legal groups to defend undocumented immigrants facing possible deportation by new Trump administration efforts.

TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND

Newsom came to Washington, D.C., hat in hand.

Late last month, the governor approved $2.5 billion for fire recovery work, which he hopes will be reimbursed by the federal government. 

And the state will likely need much more help from the federal government, as the bill to cover rebuilding costs is expected to reach into the tens of billions of dollars.

"The Governor’s trip is focused on securing critical disaster aid for the survivors of the Los Angeles fires and ensuring impacted families who lost their homes and livelihoods have the support they need to rebuild and recover," spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement.

After the outbreak of the fires early last month, Trump repeatedly criticized Newsom's handling of the immense crisis. He has accused the governor of mismanaging forestry and water policy and, pointing to intense backlash over a perceived lack of preparation, called on Newsom to step down.

"Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!" Trump charged in a social media post on Jan. 8, as he repeated a derogatory name he often labels the governor.

Trump also placed blame for the deadly wildfires on Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, another Democrat, and the policies approved by state lawmakers in heavily blue California. In an executive order issued last month, he described management of the state's land and water resources as "disastrous."

Newsom — the governor of the nation's most populous state, one of the Democratic Party's leaders in the resistance against the returning president and a potential White House contender in 2028 — pushed back against Trump, as the two larger-than-life politicians traded fire.

Disputing Trump, the governor noted that reservoirs in the southern part of California were full when the fires first sparked, and has argued that no amount of water could tackle fires fueled by winds of up to 100 miles per hour.

Newsom also charged Trump had spread "hurricane-force winds of mis- and disinformation."

NEWSOM CALLS TRUMP'S CLAIMS 'PURE FICTION' AFTER HE POINTED FINGER OVER CALIFORNIA FIRE TRAGEDY

Trump met with Newsom as he arrived in Los Angeles late last month — just four days after his inauguration as president — to survey the fire damage.

Trump had threatened to withhold wildfire aid until certain stipulations were met in California, including changes to water policy and requiring an ID to vote, but now appears willing to work with Newsom.

"Thank you first for being here. It means a great deal to all of us," Newsom told Trump as he greeted the president upon his arrival in Los Angeles last month. "We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help." 

The president declared that "we're looking to get something completed. And the way you get it completed is to work together."

The wildfires are far from the first time Newsom and Trump took aim at each other. Their animosity dated back to before Trump was elected president the first time in 2016, when Newsom was California's lieutenant governor.

The verbal fireworks continued over the past two years, as Newsom served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail for former President Joe Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democrats' 2024 standard-bearer last summer.

Following Trump's convincing election victory over Harris in November, Newsom moved to "Trump-proof" his heavily blue state.

"He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election," Trump responded.

Since their meeting in Los Angeles, Newsom has appeared to be more restrained in his criticism of Trump.

Following Trump's orders, the US Army Corps of Engineers last week opened two dams in Central California, letting roughly 2.2 billion gallons of water flow out of reservoirs.

Trump celebrated the move in posts to Truth Social post on Friday and Sunday, declaring, "the water is flowing in California," and adding the water was "heading to farmers throughout the State, and to Los Angeles."

But water experts argue that the newly released water won't flow to Los Angeles, and it is being wasted by being released during California's normally wet winter season.

Newsom, apparently aiming to rebuild the working relationship he had with Trump during the president's first term in the White House, didn't raise any objections to the water release.

Fox News' Christina Shaw, Elizabeth Pritchett, Pat Ward, and Lee Ross contributed to this story.

The Coast Guard intercepted a boat with 16 illegal aliens on board about 15 miles off the coast of Mission Bay in California on Sunday morning.

The Coast Guard said in a press release that at about 12 a.m., cutter Active notified Joint Harbor Operations Center of a 25-foot panga-style vessel with about 15-20 people on board, about a mile south of their position.

A panga boat is a narrow, high-bowed type of vessel often used by drug and human smugglers. The cutter Active and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations boat crew launched boarding teams to assess the situation.

During the investigation, the Coast Guard boarding team discovered 16 immigrants aboard the panga.

COAST GUARD INTERCEPTS BOAT CARRYING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS AS EXPULSION FLIGHT OPERATIONS BEGIN

The initial interviews with the immigrants found they all claimed to be from Mexico, the Coast Guard said.

All the immigrants were transferred into U.S. Border Patrol custody.

"The Coast Guard remains committed to protecting lives at sea while working alongside our federal partners to combat illicit maritime activities," the Coast Guard said. "These operations highlight the coordinated efforts between agencies to secure our maritime borders."

Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted several "alien expulsion flight operations" between California and Texas, which included intercepting a boat carrying illegal migrants that was sinking in U.S. waters.

COAST GUARD COMMANDANT TERMINATED OVER BORDER LAPSES, RECRUITMENT, DEI FOCUS: OFFICIAL

A photo shared by the military branch on X showed crews aboard the Active intercepting a vessel carrying nine illegal migrants bound for San Diego.

"The migrant vessel began to sink shortly after the Active crew stopped the voyage," the post read. "All persons aboard the sinking vessel were safely removed and transferred to CBP."

6 SUSPECTS ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED IN DEADLY HUMAN SMUGGLING INCIDENTS OVER THE PAST WEEK, COAST GUARD SAYS

Fox News Digital first reported that President Donald Trump fired the commandant of the USCG, Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, over concerns about the border, recruitment and an "erosion of trust."

Officials claimed Fagan failed to address border security threats, provided insufficient leadership in recruitment and retention, had an excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and covered up Operation Fouled Anchor, which was the Coast Guard's internal investigation into sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy.

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

Oakland's $129.8 million budget deficit could eradicate up to 30% of its firefighting capacity, depleting a strapped department already stretched thin by station closures, according to sources on the ground.

Fire response times in the Democrat-controlled California city are already three times the national average after budget cuts that recently closed two fire stations and kept a newly renovated station from reopening. 

City Councilmember Zac Unger, who was an Oakland firefighter for 27 years, told Fox Digital that four more stations could face closures because of deficits.

"We have three firehouses currently closed and another four slated to close ... which would represent about 30% of our firefighting capacity here in Oakland, an absolutely catastrophic potential for the city of Oakland," Unger said. "We simply cannot afford to lose 30% of our fire and emergency medical response."

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Firefighters and city officials have been working overtime in "an all-hands-on-deck moment," Unger said, to identify available funds in the city’s budget and keep Oakland’s firehouses open. Fire Chief Damon Covington told Fox Digital inroads have been made to prevent the additional four fire stations from closing, but that's not to say closures won't come down the road.

"Seven firehouses would represent about 30% of our fire department," Covington said. "It's a tremendous threat because, ultimately, we need more fire service to cover our city adequately, and to lose two firehouses and a third that was under renovation, it taxes our workforce."

The fire department’s limited capacity has slowed response time, creating the potential for a disaster like the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, President of Oakland Firefighters Local 55 Seth Olyer said.

"We had a house fire in the end of east Oakland in Engine 28's area," he said. "Normally, that engine would have been able to get to the fire within four minutes. The closest fire engine took nearly 11 minutes to get there. With a fire doubling in size every minute, you can do the math. This went from a small fire inside the house to a total loss and nearly threatening the surrounding area and potentially starting a wildland fire, much like in L.A."

"Our firefighters do incredible work, and they will make do with whatever difficult circumstances you give them, but yes, we have seen slowed response times," Unger told Fox Digital. "There's simply no way to close firehouses and expect to receive the same level of service."

The interim mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment. But in its current budget proposal, the city cites one-time COVID-19 pandemic costs and retirement benefits, including OPEB liability and CalPERs benefits costs, as the "fiscal challenges leading to [a] projected deficit" of $129.8 million. Oakland’s 2024-2025 fiscal budget proposed fire station "brownouts" for six months beginning January 2025 to save the city $5.5 million. 

But local firefighters say brownouts could come at a much higher cost. 

"When you close firehouses, it creates a domino effect," Covington said in an interview with Fox Digital. "It's not just the firehouse that you're closing, it's the surrounding jurisdictions, the other firehouses that are close to that firehouse that have to cover the ground of that station."

Oakland firefighters say they face the same cuts that the Los Angeles Fire Department warned about ahead of the devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires in January. Oakland is no stranger to fire devastation itself. The Oakland firestorm of 1991 killed 25 people, injured 150 and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. Olyer said the 1991 fire fundamentally changed fire department response tactics and how fire crews cooperate with surrounding agencies.

"That fire was so massive it took a herculean effort by the Bay Area and basically fire departments from all over the western U.S. to control," Olyer told Fox Digital. "You’re seeing the same thing with Los Angeles. It’s not realistic to think that any fire department would be able to stop any sort of huge fast-moving wildfire with hurricane force winds in conditions like that."

KELSEY GRAMMER SAYS CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS ‘TOOK THEIR EYE OFF THE BALL’ IN WILDFIRES CATASTROPHE

A quick, efficient and collaborative firefighting operation is possible with ample resources. In October, Olyer described how proper staffing and cooperation with CAL FIRE prevented the Keller Fire from becoming another California catastrophe. 

"The Keller fire, which happened last October, was a perfect example of what a properly staffed fire department and early intensive action can do to really stop a fire before it gets out of control," Olyer said. The event, he said, showed what "cooperation among agencies looks like, with CAL FIRE doing water drops on top, helicopter drops on it and massive amounts of resources very early on."

"The department has been running bare bones in Oakland for decades," Olyer said. "We have fire engines driving around with nearly 300,000 miles, and they're literally falling apart. It’s just a matter of time until Oaklanders’ luck runs out."

"We're all pushing in the same direction. Everybody wants those firehouses open. It really does come down to dollars and cents," Covington said.

EXCLUSIVE: Former San Jose State University assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose's contract with the university expired Friday, and she has been told that it will not be renewed, she exclusively told Fox News Digital. 

Her departure comes after a season plagued by a scandal involving a trans athlete, in which Batie-Smoose took a firm stance to oppose the university's defense of that athlete. She and her family initially moved to California from the East coast to accept the job in 2023. 

"We didn’t make the decision to move our family across the country lightly, but I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I was meant to be at San Jose State to stand up for these young women and do everything I could to protect future generations. In my 30 years of coaching, this is one of the most amazing groups of young women that I've been around. Their strength and resiliency during a difficult season was inspiring and one of the reasons why I had to take a stand," she told Fox News Digital.

San Jose State declined to comment on Batie-Smoose's contract situation when contacted by Fox News Digital. 

"SJSU does not comment on personnel matters," a university spokesperson said. 

Batie-Smoose was suspended from the program on Nov. 2 after she filed a Title IX complaint against the university regarding its alleged handling of a situation involving former transgender player Blaire Fleming. The complaint included allegations that Fleming had conspired with an opponent to have Slusser hit in the face during a match in October.

"I spoke up for the young women on the team who were being silenced and gaslit while dealing with having a male athlete in their locker room, on the court and rooming with them on the road. I could not be silenced and manipulated any longer so I had to stand up for what was right," she said. 

"Speaking out to protect these young women and future women was too much to ignore. This has cost me my job, but we need more coaches to stand up for what is right. I just have to pray that by doing the right thing that justice will prevail and I will be able to continue to do what I was meant to do." 

Batie-Smoose is also currently engaged in a lawsuit against San Jose State and the Mountain West alongside 11 current and former conference players. 

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The lawsuit is led by former San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser, who alleges that she had been made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with Fleming for an entire season while the university withheld the truth about Fleming's birth sex from her and other players. 

Both Slusser's lawsuit and Batie-Smoose's Title IX complaint allege that Fleming conspired with Colorado State volleyball player Malaya Jones ahead of the match between the two programs on Oct. 3. The complaint alleges Fleming provided a scouting report to Jones to ensure a Colorado State competitive advantage, and established a plan to set up Jones with a clear lane to spike Slusser in the face during the contest.

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Slusser was never spiked in the face during that match, but Colorado State did win in straight sets. 

A Mountain West investigation into Batie-Smoose's allegations did not find sufficient evidence to assign discipline to any player who was named in the allegations, which was stated in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital that was addressed to San Jose State athletic director Jeff Konya and Colorado State athletic director John Weber from Mountain West Deputy Commissioner Bret Gilliland.

That letter did not address allegations in Slusser's lawsuit that provided further context on the incident, nor did it address the specific notion of an alleged conspiracy to have Slusser hit in the face. The letter simply referred to all the allegations listed in the complaint as "manipulation of the competition."

Gilliland claimed that any evidence to back the claims in the complaint was insufficient, but did not explicitly state that the allegations were false, according to the letter.

The letter stated that the conference's investigation included interviews with coaches and student-athletes at both San Jose State and Colorado State. However, the letter did not specifically state which individuals had been interviewed. The conference declined to provide any details on the individuals who had been interviewed when asked by Fox News Digital.

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Slusser's attorney Bill Bock later provided a statement to Fox News Digital insisting that the investigation had been "infected with bias." 

"Because the MWC’s investigation was inadequate, and anything but thorough, and because the MWC’s close-out letter is riddled with errors, the undersigned is issuing this rebuttal and demands that the MWC immediately and publicly release: (1) the investigative report prepared by its investigator(s), and (2) all documents connected to the MWC’s claimed ‘thorough investigation’ and upon which the MWC’s decision not to proceed further was based," read the statement from Bock. 

Slusser previously told Fox News Digital she has been spiked in the face by a volleyball in the past, and that the experience "stings, but you kind of just brush it off." However, in their first season together in 2023, Slusser said she took one of Fleming's spikes to her thigh, then had to nurse dark bruises on her thigh for an entire week after that. Slusser says she did not even know that Fleming was a trans athlete back then.

Slusser also previously told Fox News Digital that Batie-Smoose's suspension left some of her teammates in tears.

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"After we found out that she was released, a lot of the team just kind of broke down and was kind of freaking out, and even one of my teammates was like, ‘I don’t feel safe anymore,' because there's no one now that we feel like we can go and talk to about our concerns or our actual feelings and can actually speak freely in front of," Slusser said.

Slusser said she did not feel safe speaking with anyone else involved in the program, especially head coach Todd Kress. 

"You can't truly voice how you're feeling without them just trying to cover it up or act like it's all OK. With Melissa, you could voice how you felt, and she could comfort you and validate your feelings and at least make you feel heard, compared to the other coaches," Slusser said.

SJSU went on to play in the conference championship game against Colorado State on Nov. 30 but lost. The loss kept Fleming, Slusser and the rest of the Spartans out of the NCAA tournament. Batie-Smoose was at the match in Las Vegas, Nevada, that weekend to support her former players, despite being suspended by the program. 

Nearly every one of the players on SJSU's 2024 team that has remaining NCAA eligibility has entered the transfer portal, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

"I think that it speaks volumes that the majority of the team transferred because they did not want to be subjected to the mental anguish the university  put them through. They had had enough of the lies and manipulation, and I wish them the best," Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital.

Meanwhile, Slusser's lawsuit against the school and conference has not yet gone to trial. Slusser is also engaged in Riley Gaines' lawsuit against the NCAA over its policies on gender ideology that allows trans athletes to compete in women's sports. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

The Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire that burned a total of nearly 40,000 acres in the Los Angeles area have been 100% contained, fire officials said on Friday.

The Palisades Fire burned 23,448 acres on the west side of Los Angeles and the Eaton Fire set 14,201 acres ablaze starting on Jan. 7, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The two major fires and several smaller ones created the worst natural disaster in Los Angeles County history, killing 28 people and damaging or destroying more than 16,000 structures, Cal Fire said.

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At the height of the fires, 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, according to Los Angeles County officials.

Damage and economic losses are estimated at more than $250 billion, according to private forecaster AccuWeather.

Rain finally fell in Southern California in the past week, which aided firefighters in containing the fires but also increased the risk of flash floods and mudslides in the hills and the spread of toxic material left behind in the fire's devastation.

Full containment is largely symbolic at this point as fires still remain isolated in steep mountain terrain, fire officials said.

"It's more important when we say forward progress is stopped," Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Margaret Stewart told Reuters.

Progress was stopped about a week after the Palisades and Eaton fires swept through the region.

LOS ANGELES AGENCY REVEALS ESTIMATED ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DEADLY WILDFIRES AS INFERNOS STILL RAGE

Stewart said the rain was "more of a hindrance" because it led to mudslides and blocked roads first responders needed to access.

"Had this rain come two weeks ago, it might have been more helpful," Stewart said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A Malibu real estate agent warned California homeowners about the need to protect themselves after a serial squatter reportedly targeted the beachfront community for years, a problem she said could become worse after the Los Angeles wildfires.

"I don't know how she got away with it for so long in Malibu with the amount of people that she did," Liz Benichou, a Malibu real estate agent and lifelong resident of the area, explained to Fox News Digital about the accusations against Ellie Mae McNulty. "It's a very small, tight-knit community. You see the same people. You get this familiarity. You think that everyone's like you because we're all doing the same thing, so you kind of gain that trust. You live in this bubble in Malibu."

McNulty, an actor and screenwriter, according to her biography, allegedly swindled dozens of Malibu homeowners over the last decade, charming her way into their lives before becoming a nightmare roommate, Vanity Fair first reported. 

"First of all, how she's been able to do this for so many years without getting caught, I think that just has to do with her overall charm. I think she's a predator, and she finds people that are weak that she can prey on," Benichou said.

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According to Vanity Fair, McNulty met 65-year-old Alden Marin in 2021 at a beach at Point Dume, where the two shared a pleasant exchange, before Marin opened his home to her, as she claimed she was "waiting for her new place to get ready." 

But days quickly turned to weeks, then a month, then two, and Marin's sister reported a change in McNulty happened, and she continued to make excuses about why she could not provide rent. 

"People really feel as though it's a very tight-knit, secure community. Why would anyone want to take advantage of that? But again, people do. And it's almost easy to get away with if you're consistently showing your face, like this predator seemed to do," Benichou said.

"People in L.A. want to see people who seem special. And she portrayed that special thing. She's like, 'OK, I'm an actor. I know these people. I have these connections.' So you kind of get blinded by that. And this is coming from someone who went to Beverly Hills High School. I grew up in L.A. so I've seen this throughout my entire life."

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Marin's family claimed that McNulty "unleashed a campaign of psychological terror" on him that landed him in a medical facility. While he was in care, the family reported that McNulty changed all the locks on the home and uncovered that Marin was not her first victim, according to Vanity Fair's report.

The family took the matter to court and a judge eventually ordered McNulty to leave the property, Vanity Fair reported. Fox News Digital reached out to McNulty for comment.

Benichou said that this is not the only example of someone who has pulled schemes like this in the Golden State. She said that there could be more scamming like this in response to the wildfires.

"I feel like it's something that, unfortunately, we see a lot of, especially out here in California, because people do have really big hearts and they want to help, and they want to see the best in people," Benichou said.

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"It's such a mental illness that they really don't see what they are doing. It's so pathological," Benichou said about people running these types of squatting schemes. "They don't see what they've done is wrong at all. So, for her, it seems as though she feels entitled to it. And even though she's getting bad press, she's still getting attention."

California, known for being one of the most tenant-favorable states in the country, protects tenants from certain rent increases, and they may also be protected from certain types of evictions.

"If you're in a place for more than 14 days, I think within six months, you can claim it as your own," Benichou explained, referring to California's tenancy laws.

State law also mandates that guests who occupy a room in a house, even if they are not paying and have no contract, can be considered "tenants at will." 

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The state’s laws were created to prevent landlords from unfairly evicting renters.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Justice told Vanity Fair that not paying rent, being a "nuisance" and "engaging in criminal activity on the premises" are all considered "just cause for eviction" under state law.

As Benichou pointed out, evictions can take months, even years, and police are not allowed to forcibly remove a resident, but can "persuade" the person to leave the home.

"California is a state that's known to be very soft on crime and squatting is a crime. It doesn't seem to me that much is going to change, especially after the fires, after all of these people have lost their homes. You can't just throw people out on the streets," Benichou said.

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Benichou added that since California is a sanctuary state, she believes it's going to take a lot of work to get the tenancy laws to ever change. 

"It'll take a lot of work to get these laws to change, to be more in the favor of the homeowner. This is just something I see time and time again. So unless homeowners really band together and try to actually make these changes happen, it's going to be more in the favor in California of the tenant because it is a sanctuary state," Benichou said.

"And that doesn't just stop at immigration or anything. It kind of continues on into housing. And it's why we have had a housing crisis, and it's been made even worse now. So it's just going to get a bit more difficult after the fires, unfortunately." 

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The wildfires weren't the first crisis to expose the housing crisis in California, as Benichou said she really saw corruption and schemes come to light during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think a lot of people took advantage during COVID of being able to stay in their places because of that moratorium. And I think now a lot of people are going to use this (the fires) as an excuse," she explained.

"But on the flip side of that, there are also tenants that I represented that have landlords trying to get more money out of them than what they were previously paying before the fires. So there are two sides to this coin right now after the fire. And now, there are new laws that have been put into place where you can't just evict someone. But I do see landlords who are now trying to kind of get the tenants to leave on their own volition," Benichou said.

Benichou was referring to emergency orders by California Gov. Gavin Newsom put into place in response to the wildfires that will prevent price gouging and prohibit such price hikes of more than 10% in Los Angeles County through March 8. The restrictions apply to existing tenants and new leases during the emergency period, according to the order. 

"In the face of natural disaster, we should be coming together to help our neighbors, not attempting to profit off of their pain," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a previous press release. 

Cal Fire reported that more than 12,000 homes, businesses and schools have been lost to the fires and more than 100,000 people have had to leave their homes.

Bonta's office said in order to protect Californians affected by the Southern California wildfires, the Department of Justice is investigating and prosecuting price gouging and has sent more than 650 warning letters, with more coming, to hotels and landlords who have been accused of price gouging.

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"There are so many sides to this," Benichou said. "And it's hard because there are great tenants and there are great housing providers and then there are those who take advantage of every single situation. And unfortunately, because of the fact that we live in California, and certain cities within Los Angeles, like Santa Monica, for example, have rent control, so it's harder to get a tenant out in Santa Monica than it is in, say, Burbank, which doesn't have rent control.

"So there's so much that goes into this whole tenant housing provider. And unless there are laws that change that are changed throughout California, you still have to deal with all the city laws."

While legislators in the Democratic trifecta are trying to pass bills to "Trump-proof" the state, California Republican Kate Sanchez plans to introduce a bill that would crack down on what may be a "sanctuary state" loophole protecting criminal illegal immigrants involved in sex-trafficking minors.

"It would eliminate all of the unnecessary restrictions for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal law enforcement in order to go after those that have been accused or convicted of sex trafficking of minors, and currently there is a clause that they cannot communicate as openly as possible," Sanchez told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

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These restrictions are part of California's "sanctuary state" policies, which are designed to limit state and local law enforcement's involvement in federal immigration enforcement. For her part, the specific provisions that Sanchez wants to amend are found in the California Values Act (SB 54), which was enacted in 2017, that restricts local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect or arrest individuals for immigration enforcement purposes. 

There are exceptions in SB 54 for individuals convicted of certain serious or violent crimes. However, sex trafficking is not always classified as a violent felony under California law – making it so that some convicted sex traffickers may not meet the criteria for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities – potentially thwarting deportation efforts.

Sanchez argues this creates a loophole that could allow illegal immigrants who are involved in sex trafficking to remain in the U.S. after serving their sentence. In 2023, Newsom signed Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), reclassifying the trafficking of a minor as a "serious" felony, but other forms of human trafficking may still not be considered violent felonies under state law.

"So, we want to make sure we remove that piece of the penal code and allow them to communicate and do their job fully," Sanchez said. 

'DEVASTATING': CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT

Sanchez's bill may align well with President Donald Trump's mass deportation plan currently underway, but it faces an uphill battle in her state legislature, which is dominated by Democrats. Currently, Democratic assemblymembers – in collaboration with Newsom – are trying to pass a series of bills that would bolster the state's legal defense against the Trump administration. The State Senate already passed the bills last week.

Democrats were set to pass the $50 million special session bill Thursday, but Assembly lawmakers reportedly blocked the package over concerns that there may be changes that need to be made to the immigration-related proposal. At issue is Newsom's $25 million allocation for nonprofit organizations to defend illegal immigrants from deportation, and whether those funds would be used as well for criminal illegal immigrants. 

Newsom's office told Fox News Digital previously that no funds would go to criminal illegal immigrants. 

NEWSOM PROPOSES $25M FROM STATE LEGISLATURE TO 'TRUMP-PROOF' CALIFORNIA

Newsom called a special legislative session quickly after Trump's electoral victory to secure additional funding for the state's legal defense against the administration. Reacting to the development on his TruthSocial account at the time, Trump said, "He is using the term 'Trump-Proof' as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again,' but I just overwhelmingly won the Election."

Sanchez – who says she has been shut out of the legislature's Hispanic Caucus because she's a Republican – said the legislature should be focusing on "fireproofing" the state, or rather, "Newsom-proofing California." 

"Take it for what it's worth, but I genuinely feel like there are victims and there are people in need that we should be advocating for protecting our most vulnerable, protecting the innocence of our children," Sanchez said. "It is an uphill battle in Sacramento, but I do feel the tide is turning, and I know we will be looking to our federal counterparts to be helpful in this matter as well."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom's office for comment.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust will hold a hearing next week addressing overregulation in California following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, stating California’s "onerous regulatory regime" may have worsened the disaster, Fox News Digital has learned.

The "California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation" hearing will examine the real impacts of regulatory policy on the prevention of natural disasters, particularly in the case of California's wildfires, according to a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

It will also address how excessive regulation on insurance and permitting serves as a roadblock to those recovering from disasters.

Cal Fire reported more than 12,000 homes, businesses and schools were lost to the fires and more than 100,000 people have had to leave their homes.

KELSEY GRAMMER SAYS CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS 'TOOK THEIR EYE OFF THE BALL' IN WILDFIRES CATASTROPHE

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, described current disaster regulations as a "nightmare."

"Democrat-run California's excessive regulations make preventing and recovering from natural disasters a nightmare," he said. 

LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES: SECOND CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE AGENT CHARGED WITH PRICE GOUGING VICTIMS

Jordan added that California needs a streamlined process, as suggested by President Donald Trump, to remove regulation and ensure citizens can rebuild and prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said the wildfires were a preventable tragedy, and Congress must examine whether California’s "onerous regulatory regime" worsened the disaster.

"For years, California’s liberal government has prioritized environmental activism over effective forest management and disaster mitigation. Meanwhile, the politicization of their state insurance regulator has driven insurers out of the state and forced taxpayers to foot the bill," Fitzgerald said.

Witnesses will include Steve Hilton, founder of Golden Together; Steven Greenhut, resident senior fellow and western region director of state affairs for the R Street Institute; and Edward Ring, director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, according to the statement.

The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. 

Highly combustible lithium-ion batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles are complicating cleanup efforts in the Los Angeles neighborhoods ravaged by wildfire damage. 

Phase 1 of the federal cleanup is underway, as surveyors with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work to remove and dispose of hazardous materials, including lithium-ion batteries found in charred vehicles and decimated homes. The EPA warned that batteries should be considered "extremely dangerous," even if they are believed to be intact, and "can spontaneously re-ignite, explode, and emit toxic gases and particulates even after the fire is out." 

The Palisades and Eaton fires aftermath is estimated to require the "largest lithium-ion battery pickup, cleanup, that’s ever happened in the history of the world," EPA incident commander Steve Calanog reportedly told local KNBC. He explained that removing lithium-ion batteries – even those that do not appear damaged – from fire wreckage requires "technical sophistication and care," as hazardous material crews find and deionize the batteries so they can be crushed or safely shipped for disposal. 

"We don’t know the long-term effects of all this exposure, and we haven't seen this on this large of a scale and this many electric vehicles," Los Angeles City Fire Capt. Adam VanGerpen told KNBC. "This is an unprecedented amount of electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries in there."

LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES: LAWSUIT ALLEGES VIDEO SHOWS WHAT STARTED EATON FIRE

According to the California Energy Commission, more than 99,000 zero-emission vehicles were sold in Los Angeles County in 2024 alone, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles. 

The Tesla models Y, 3 and Cybertruck were the top three selling zero-emission models sold in Los Angeles County last year, according to the commission's online tally. 

Authorities are warning that residual heat poses danger for days, weeks and even months after the initial fires, potentially causing lithium-ion batteries to spontaneously combust. 

"With the lithium-ion batteries, even if they look like they are intact they could have damage on the inside, so they continue to off gas and the off-gas from these batteries can be toxic to your health," VanGerpen said.

Besides in electric and hybrid vehicles, lithium-ion batteries can be found in personal electronics, vaping devices, power tools, and home energy storage systems, which have become increasingly popular during California's power outages. 

LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES: CALIFORNIA CITIES VOW TO ‘SHUT DOWN’ EPA’S DUMPING SITE FOR ‘TOXIC’ WASTE

President Donald Trump toured the Palisades Fire burn area on Friday. His executive order issued that same day to provide water resources in California and improve disaster response will allow the EPA "to complete its hazardous materials mission responding to the Los Angeles, California Wildfires as soon as practical," the EPA said in a statement on Monday. "EPA’s work removing hazardous materials is Phase 1 of the federal cleanup response." 

"According to the EPA incident commander, there will be upward of 1,000 people working on Phase 1 cleanup by this weekend," the statement continued. "This work, conducted at no cost to residents, is a mandatory process to ensure the safety of residents and the workers who will – after the hazardous material is gone – conduct the Phase 2 debris removal in the burn footprints, and to prevent these materials from being released into the environment." 

Phase 2, which begins automatically once Phase 1 is complete, will involve debris removal and will be coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 

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"Under President Trump’s leadership, EPA is doing everything within our power to expedite cleanup of hazardous debris and to help provide Californians safer access to their property as soon as possible," EPA Acting Deputy Administrator Chad McIntosh said in a statement. "With President Trump’s Executive Order, he has authorized a whole of government response to the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles – an effort that has never been seen before. EPA is working with local, state and federal partners in addition to the private sector to aid in California’s recovery."