by Angelina Delfin
Nick Shirley announced today on X that he is suing the state of California over the controversial bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that critics have dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act.”
AB 2624 restricts the publication of certain identifying information about workers at organizations that provide immigration-related services when a worker submits a written request that the information not be published.
Critics of the law, including Shirley, argue the restrictions could interfere with journalists and others investigating those organizations.
“Now in a world where we all want more transparency and not less, it is more critical than ever that we do not just sit back and do nothing. That is why I’m filing this lawsuit against the state of California,” Shirley said in his post.
In making his case against the law, Shirley went on to describe who authored it, why he believes it was created, how he says it affects journalists, and the timeline that he argues shows the law was targeted at him.
That timeline began on Jan. 31, when Shirley announced he was in California investigating alleged fraud. Days later, Newsom said the San Diego Somali community felt “under siege” amid the arrival of what he described as “right-wing provocateurs,” a comment Shirley suggested was directed at him.
Shirley then pointed to a Feb. 5 news conference held by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who pushed back against allegations of widespread fraud in the state, describing the claims as “reckless, false, outrageous, and ridiculous.”
Over two weeks later, on Feb. 20, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, who is married to the attorney general, introduced AB 2624, known among critics as the “Stop Nick Shirley Act.”
Shirley argues the timing was no coincidence.
“They needed the Stop Nick Shirley Act, AB 2624, to protect the fraud and stop people from exposing these locations inside of immigration support providers.”
Shirley is now taking that argument to federal court, claiming the statute violates the First Amendment. The journalist also stressed that he is not seeking monetary damages from the lawsuit, but instead is challenging the law to protect what he says are his and others’ First Amendment rights.
“It’s time for We the People to do something. This law never had anything to do with the Right or Left. It had to do with your dollars being defrauded, and now they want to prevent people like me from going out and searching for the truth about where our tax dollars are going,” Shirley said.
Shirley is being represented by America First Legal.
Gene Hamilton, president of America First Legal, said, “Nick Shirley is an American patriot. He has been exposing fraud that too many people have tolerated or facilitated for decades. California was so threatened by that work that the Attorney General’s own wife introduced a bill to silence Mr. Shirley, in violation of the First Amendment. Governor Gavin Newsom gladly signed it. This will not stand. America First Legal is proud to stand with Nick.”
The Daily Signal reached out to the offices of Newsom and Bonta for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
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Angelina Delfin is California correspondent for the Daily Signal. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Nick Shirley” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 4.0.
