(The Center Square) – After Republican lawmakers in California’s Legislature nicknamed her immigration bill the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” Assemblymember Mia Bonta stressed the legislation aims to protect workers of immigrant service organizations, not silence journalists.
“Sharing the name and address of a front desk worker of a legal aid clinic to intimidate them out of doing their job isn’t journalism, no matter who does it,” Bonta, D-Oakland, told The Center Square through a spokesperson, who shared the lawmaker’s comments in a text. “The bill’s language already explicitly protects investigative journalism, and I’ll continue to collaborate with my colleagues, advocates and our policy committees to advance language that reflects that and advances my goal of protecting workers from threats and violence.”
But critics say the bill would lead to First Amendment concerns for independent people covering the news, such as YouTube influencer Nick Shirley.
Bonta’s Assembly Bill 2624 would protect the personal information and image of people who work for immigrant services organizations. Workers can be employees or volunteers, according to the bill. Home addresses, names, phone numbers, passport number and other identifiable information would be protected.
The bill was introduced because workers at immigrant services organizations were being harassed or threatened because of their work, with some even experiencing being “doxxed” on the internet, according to the legislation’s text.
However, there are some who have criticized the bill, saying that there are already legal protections for such situations and that taxpayers have a right to know where their dollars are going.
“California funds a lot of organizations that provide all kinds of services to immigrants, including illegal immigrants, and there needs to be accountability,” Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told The Center Square on Friday. “The American public have a right to know who they’re funding and what that funding is being used for. This certainly falls into the area of transparency that everybody should be in support of.”
Mehlman said he doesn’t want information about these organizations hidden under this bill.
He added that First Amendment issues come into play.
“If an independent journalist like Nick Shirley or somebody else goes out and examines what is going on and posts that information on the internet or in other public places, that is a constitutionally-protected right,” Mehlman said. “The First Amendment protects speech, as well, and anybody can go out there with a video camera and record stuff. That’s how a lot of news is broken these days.”
Shirley, a popular YouTube influencer who describes himself as an independent journalist, did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment. Shirley made headlines in December 2025 for making videos on social media alleging Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota, according to previous reporting by The Center Square.
Other lawmakers who have criticized the bill voiced concern that in its current form, the legislation would prevent journalists from doing their jobs when reporting on such organizations. Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, previously called the bill unconstitutional.
“It is clearly targeting citizen journalists who are uncovering the Democrat’s epic levels of fraud in these welfare programs, in these contracts and grants to left-wing NGOs,” DeMaio told The Center Square, referring to non-governmental organizations. “The Democrats clearly do not want people going around videotaping and uncovering what is happening with taxpayer funds.”
The Center Square reached out to various immigrant services organizations for comment, but did not hear back by press time.
