ArcaMax

Leading up to Easter, I noticed some people in my community were in upbeat moods. During a recent grocery store run, I wore my baby blue sweatshirt with "Jesus" on the back. While waiting for a store clerk to assist me with my purchases -- I had overlooked that I was due two free bags of Lay's potato chips -- an older woman was greeting shoppers...Read more

In a couple of months, I am planning a business trip to Europe. I don't scare easy, but despite the fact that I'm an American citizen and have committed no crime, I am worried about what might happen when I attempt to come home.

Will Customs and Border Patrol agents pull me from the customs line as they did to Amir Makled? He's an American ...Read more

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

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

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

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, says all the migrants whom the Trump administration sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador last month are "actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more," even if they "don't have a rap sheet in the U.S." She adds that "we have a stringent law ...Read more

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

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

"If it's not about a king, then I'm not interested!"

This is the defiant yet adorable response of Walter Dickens, the son of master storyteller Charles Dickens, in one of the opening scenes of Angel Studios' new animated film "The King of Kings." With his vivid creativity and infatuation with the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the ...Read more

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

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

Like millions of Americans, Mel Gibson has a criminal record that disqualifies him from legally owning a gun. Unlike nearly all of those people, the movie star, whom President Donald Trump has designated as one of his three "ambassadors" to Hollywood, will be relieved of that disability, thanks to a recent decision by Attorney General Pam ...Read more

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

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

A heartrending tragedy has rocked the city of Frisco, Texas: A stabbing at a track meet on April 2 left a beloved and outstanding student-athlete dead. Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old junior linebacker on the football team at Memorial High School, was stabbed in the heart. Karmelo Anthony, also 17, is a senior at nearby Centennial High School ...Read more

A Wall Street Journal editorial described President Donald Trump's tariffs as the "dumbest trade war in history." It's important not to overrate intelligence, even in leaders. Judgment and maturity may be more crucial. But Trump is no ordinary dunce. He displays a stubborn stupidity that threatens to plunge the world into chaos and potentially...Read more

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

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

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

Tariffs "will always be the best way to max out our economic power," President Donald Trump declared during his first term, predicting that his trade war would "MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN." Not rich enough, apparently, because Trump is still touting the magic of tariffs, which he says will "pay off our debt" and "MAKE AMERICA WEALTHY AGAIN!"

...Read more

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

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

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

In preparation for Easter, many Christians and Catholics have been observing Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday, March 5, and will continue for 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving until April 17. Not everyone necessarily abstains from food. Many people are choosing to fast from social media or other popular indulgences, such as coffee, ...Read more

Much has been written about the Trump team's assault on civil society, universities, public health, the judiciary and our global alliances, and rightly so -- but there is one danger that deserves more attention because our ability to thwart this attempted revolution, this upending of our constitutional system, depends upon truth itself.

We ...Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Ruben my boy, ...Read more