As Mayor Daniel Lurie prepares to submit next year’s budget proposal, advocates warn that deep cuts could devastate immigrant and working-class communities across the city.
“The first people who are going to suffer are immigrant communities,” said Laura Valdez, the Executive Director of Mission Action. “They’re already suffering the consequences of all the policies happening at the federal level, so we need this city to truly approve a budget that is fair for the people, for the San Francisco community, for working people.”
Late Tuesday morning, representatives from dozens of nonprofits, unions and advocacy groups marched through City Hall and delivered more than 1,500 letters to Lurie’s office. The letters, written during town hall meetings organized across the city over the past few weeks, had messages from residents who depend on many of the city-funded social services that are now facing deep cuts.
“We’re at a breaking point where organizations are going to close this year if they get if these cuts go through,” said Anya Worley-Ziegmann, coordinator of the People’s Budget Coalition. “There are things that I have seen in the past that have been red lines, like ‘we’re not going to cut this program.’ And those red lines do not exist anymore.”
Though the mayor’s proposed budget will not be made public until June 1, and the budget won’t be approved until July, members of the People’s Budget Coalition have started documenting some of the planned cuts that have already been made public through announcements, contract terminations, public records requests and pressure from district supervisors.
Go to eltecolote.org to read the full report.
🎥: @emmawithpoltalk
📝: @mariana.duranf
Why are so many families left homeless in
SF? @eltecolotesf reports on the bureaucracy that has gotten harder to navigate in the past three years, all while needs have grown.
Head to link in bio to read the deep dive.
🎥: @emmawithpoltalk
📝: @mariana.duranf
Our legendary photojournalist Pablo Unzueta(@pablounzueta_ ) is entering an exciting new chapter as he steps down from El Tecolote as its first full-time staff photographer. 📸🦉
Over the last 2.5 years, Pablo helped redefine El Tecolote’s visual storytelling, capturing deeply felt moments that reflected the resilience, joy and strength of our communities. His work elevated our newsroom and helped tell stories with humanity, intimacy and care.
From award-winning investigations to community celebrations, Pablo’s photographs became an essential part of how our readers experienced El Tecolote.
Thank you, Pablo, for your dedication, creativity and immense talent. Your impact on this newsroom and community will last far beyond your time here.
¡Felicidades, Pablo! Once a Teco, always a Teco 🖤🗞️🦉
Querida Consejera,
I’m finding it very difficult to live up to the expectations of being an ideal mother — one who takes care of her home and looks after her children — while also being an efficient professional and showing up for my partner, the rest of my family and my friends.
How can I find a real balance? The guilt of not being able to do everything is exhausting me. How can I stop trying to be everything to everyone and start enjoying motherhood without feeling emotionally drained?
— Alicia
Go to eltecolote.org to read our Querida Consejera’s (@almaycorazontherapy ) advice.
Feliz día de las Madres ❤️💐
Photojournalist Pablo Unzueta gave black-and-white disposable cameras to two immigrant families navigating housing instability in San Francisco: the Zavala family, who recently secured permanent housing after years of homelessness, and the Vargas family, who were living in an RV with their infant son.
At a time when immigrant communities are often criminalized, politicized or reduced to statistics, the project Aquí Estamos invites families to reclaim their own narratives by documenting their daily lives through photography.
After the film was developed, Unzueta created black-and-white silver gelatin prints in the darkroom. The families then added handwritten notes and drawings directly onto the images, transforming them into personal artifacts of memory.
In collaboration with @workingassumptions , El Tecolote printed 7,000 copies of a special edition featuring the families’ stories and photographs, alongside reporting focused on immigrant mothers and housing insecurity in San Francisco.
Find a free copy at your favorite lavandería, taquería, health clinic or other Latino-serving businesses in the Mission District and beyond.
📸: @emmawithpoltalk
Every year, low-income Californians must renew their Medi-Cal coverage by proving they still qualify for the program. But for undocumented immigrants, this year, the process has higher stakes. Because of new state policies, if they miss their renewal timeframe, they won’t be able to recover coverage later.
Now, staff San Francisco clinics are racing against the clock to make sure these same immigrants stay enrolled.
Go to eltecolote.org to read the full report.
📝+🎨: Mariana Duran
The immigration court at 100 Montgomery St. in San Francisco officially closed yesterday, triggering confusion for immigrants with upcoming hearings as cases are reassigned to new dates and locations.
Advocates say the sudden changes are already causing serious issues, with some people showing up to the wrong court. In one recent week, more than 800 people were ordered removed after missing their hearings, according to a report by KQED.
“They’re sending these notices out so last minute that people are not getting them in time,” said Millie Atkinson, director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at the Justice and Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco.
📹: @emmawithpoltalk
Read the full story at eltecolote.org.
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Para información en español, únete a nuestra Comunidad de WhatsApp a través del enlace en nuestro bio para hacer preguntas, recibir noticias locales, recursos y alertas de emergencia.
Maria Zavala, 37, has never had a family album.
The Honduran mother of three has hundreds of images on her phone. But until recently, she had never held a printed photograph of her family, something she could revisit, pass around or keep as a record.
Last fall, using disposable cameras, Zavala and her children began documenting small, intimate moments that felt more intentional and worth preserving.
Since arriving in the United States in 2023, these are their first printed memories of the life they’ve built here.
“Photography is a way to tell your own story,” Zavala said. “To go back in time — when you look at the photo, it’s something really beautiful.”
The Zavala family is one of two featured in Aquí Estamos, a visual storytelling project by @pablounzueta_ that invites families to document their own lives using disposable cameras.
Visit eltecolote.org to see photographs captured by two immigrant families navigating housing instability in San Francisco. Plus: Stay tuned for a special print edition that celebrates immigrant mothers.
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Aqui Estamos is an intimate declaration of belonging through visual storytelling using disposable cameras by two immigrant families. This project is funded and supported by @workingassumptions .
Union Square hosts free dance nights every Friday through September, with live music, lessons and an open dance floor.
This Friday: Salsa with @djjuanloveoakland
Upcoming salsa dates: May 1; June 5; July 3
5–8 p.m. | Free
🎥: @emmawithpoltalk
When ICE rumors spread through San Francisco, families kept kids home. Businesses closed. Fear moved faster than facts.
@eltecolotesf didn't publish a story and wait. They built something new.
WhatsApp. Live updates. Spanish-first. Community-driven.
This is what innovation in Latino media looks like, not for tech's sake, but for community survival.
Read the full article in our bio
#LMC #ElTecolote #LatinoMedia #ICE
Our latest bilingual print edition is out now 🗞️
Inside: the fight to preserve S.F. newcomer schools for immigrant students; advice for Latinas navigating burnout; the city’s first Dolores Huerta parade amid a reckoning over Cesar Chávez’s legacy; the MCCLA’s return after financial collapse; a call for art submissions to La Trenza; plus upcoming events and community resources.
Pick up a free copy at Latino-serving restaurants and businesses across the Mission District and beyond.
California law now requires an additive to corn masa that helps prevent birth defects in newborns. Adding folic acid to tortillas and other masa products can save lives and prevent spinal and brain defects.
It’s a solution that Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula (@asmarambula ) has been working on for years. He saw the critical need in Fresno as a physician and wrote the language of the bill. His goal was to bring a proven solution, folic acid is already an additive in bread and cereal, to culturally appropriate foods for the Latino community.
The change went into effect on January 1, so the tortillas at the grocery store should be folic acid fortified. #localnews #latinasinjournalism #bayarea #sanfrancisco #tortillalaw
📷: @emmawithpoltalk
