Trump singing some bullshit that is likely aimed at taking someone’s rights away and/or enriching his cronies. Public domain photo.
It's no secret that President Donald Trump hates San Francisco. While campaigning for reelection in Bakersfield, California in February 2020, he made a point of disparaging the City by the Bay, declaring, “It’s worse than a slum, there’s no slum like that. What they’ve done to San Francisco is a crying shame.”
Meanwhile, property and violent crimes have decreased between 29 and 41 percent since 2015. Homicides are at their lowest rate since the 1940s, robberies and burglaries are at their lowest rate in 40 years, and even car break-ins are at their lowest rate in 20 years.
During Trump’s second term, his policies, particularly his ridiculously unnecessary tariffs, have had a deleterious effect on small businesses, especially in Chinatown, and on tech companies in the Bay Area, who have long relied on hardware imported from China and Taiwan for the benefit of their operations. In addition, as Trump has summarily dismantled the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, nonprofit agencies in San Francisco dedicated to confronting the City's housing crisis have been navigating increased financial burdens that could be exacerbated as Trump encourages local law enforcement to criminalize homelessness.
Furthermore, beginning in April 2025, Trump has ordered the United States “Justice” Department to fire several of San Francisco's immigration judges, particularly those with a high rate of granting asylum, with some of those being relieved of duty just shy of the end of their standard two-year probationary period. Among those terminated without cause or warning include assistant chief immigration judge Loi McClesky, Shira Levine, Shuting Chen, Chloe Dillon, Elisa Brasil, Ila Deiss, Roger Dinh, Jimi Vigil, Arwen Swink and Jeremiah Johnson. Currently, between these firings and the retirement of four judges at the end of 2025, there are only four immigration judges left on the bench at 100 Montgomery Street, whereas at the start of 2025 there were 21.
Currently, between these firings and the retirement of four judges at the end of 2025, there are only four immigration judges left on the bench at 100 Montgomery Street, whereas at the start of 2025 there were 21.
Needless to say, the drastic staffing cuts have dynamically overburdened the immigration court and created extra anxiety for asylum seekers, as these developments have made them more vulnerable to deportation. In one particular case, an immigrant whose name is being withheld for his protection, has been waiting since 2020 for a fair immigration hearing after fleeing his native Pakistan due to being charged with blasphemy, a crime punishable by death in that country. With his hearing only weeks away, Judge Shuting Chen, who had an 89% approval record, was fired, and his hearing was delayed until the summer of 2029.
As a result of these developments, this asylum seeker has spent much of 2025 as a recluse and even sold his car so that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would have one less way to track him.
The motivation for the Trump regime dismantling San Francisco's immigration court bench is obvious. As of August 2025, the national average for asylum approval is roughly 20%. Although San Francisco has seen a decline in asylum approvals as a result of the judges being fired, the average approval rating in the City stands at 40.8%, approximately double the national average. Obviously, such a figure would never sit well with the Trump regime, considering its hostility toward refugees, even if they are fleeing from countries in which both the United States government and American corporations have caused or exacerbated havoc. Last but not least, when you consider the firings of San Francisco's immigration judges alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding a list of non-citizen inmates from San Francisco jails and her threats against sanctuary cities who defy federal immigration orders, there can be no question that the Trump regime wants to flush out the immigrants it targets as easily at it possibly can.
