On Saturday, California Governor Gavin Newsom put his signature on the debated “Stop Nick Shirley Act.” This legislative milestone happened mere days after an intruding left-wing activist interrupted the Governor’s Capitol interview, hurling a string of crude personal insults his way.
The newly enacted Assembly Bill 2624 broadens California’s existing Safe at Home program, extending its protections to employees of nonprofit organizations that assist immigrants in navigating the complex immigration system.
Opponents of the bill argue that it serves as a tool for intimidating those attempting to expose unethical behaviors, sparking significant controversy around its intentions.
Residents and organizations will see the law come into effect on October 1, 2027.
Currently, the Safe at Home initiative extends its shield to survivors of domestic violence, victims of elder abuse, and workers within reproductive and gender-affirming health care sectors, offering them substitute mailing addresses to reduce the risk of targeted harassment and violent threats.
Democratic Assemblywoman Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), introduced the bill in February after reports of increased threats and harassment against immigration service providers.
“Our immigrant service providers are living in fear because of extremists looking to demonize the work that they do and the populations they serve,” Bonta said Saturday. “That is an intolerable consequence of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that exists right now.”
Republicans gave the measure the nickname of the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” coined by Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego.
Shirley, an independent journalist and YouTuber, has made videos following immigrant workers and accusing them of fraud.
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He has criticized AB 2624, saying it was created after he “exposed widespread fraud in immigrant communities” in California and Minnesota.
The controversy intensified after Shirley traveled to San Diego following the viral success of videos he produced about Minnesota.
Newsom said in February that Somali daycare providers there were “under siege” following Shirley’s arrival.
Then came a bizarre twist.
On Wednesday, Shirley was conducting a sidewalk interview outside the California State Capitol in Sacramento when Terry Schanz, chief of staff to Democratic Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor, allegedly barged into the encounter.
Schanz earns $17,319 a month, or $207,828 a year, in taxpayer-funded compensation.
He held up a printed flyer and asked: “Did you guys hear that Nick Shirley has a small penis allegedly?”
According to KCRA, multiple complaints have since been filed with the California Legislature’s HR department, and Schanz is expected to face consequences.
The episode is an awkward backdrop for a bill whose supporters say is designed to combat harassment and doxxing.
Schanz has faced other controversy, too.
His name surfaced in a 2025 wrongful-termination lawsuit containing allegations of political bullying and a toxic workplace culture within top Assembly leadership.
His office also faced scrutiny in January over allegations that it pressured nonprofit newsroom CalMatters to alter footage involving McKinnor after a reporter asked her a tough question about an expensive designer handbag.
The fight over AB 2624 even reached the US Senate, where Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., referred to it as the “Protect Fraudsters Act.”
Bonta has rejected that characterization, saying the law does not conflate legitimate journalism with the doxxing targeted by Safe at Home.
But Newsom has now made the measure law.