Hundreds of people took to the streets in parts of San Diego County on Saturday, many calling for an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration operations. Rallies, organized by the grassroots organization Indivisible, took place in Otay Mesa, Pacific Beach, Del Mar, and Mira Mesa.

In Pacific Beach, dozens of people spread out across the intersection of Crown Point and Ingraham Street, chanting and holding signs to voice their opposition to ICE.

“I’m loud because I’m angry right now. What’s going on in our country is not right, it’s not just. It’s not what our country was founded upon,” said one protester. “People — American citizens should not be being killed in the streets, especially for not doing anything wrong, and it’s just not okay,” the protester added.

A very similar scene played out in Del Mar, where large crowds gathered outside the Del Mar Civic Center along Camino Del Mar.

“I’m a child of immigrants, I’m an immigrant, and I am so sad for what’s happening,” said Kamala Alexander, who came to protest with her husband against the violence that has dominated headlines.

Alexander has been watching the developments in Minneapolis closely, ever since video showed an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.

“It hurts deeply, because that’s not what this country represents,” said Alexander.

Alexander believes that ICE, as a federal agency, has a role to play in the U.S. The message did not entirely align with calls from other protesters to do away with the agency altogether. However, Alexander does not agree with the violence that has now taken center stage.

“I think they can do the right job, but they can do it with empathy, with compassion, with understanding,” said Alexander.

Alexander and her fellow protesters hope their voices can lead to change, although what shape that would take remains uncertain.

At the corner of Birch Road and Millenia Avenue in Chula Vista, similar chants and signs flooded the busy intersection.

“She was a mother, not in this community, but part of the U.S.A. community, and we have to, as people, take control and regain democracy and get our freedom back,” said Diana Feather, a U.S. Navy veteran.

Protests continue against the Trump administration over the ICE shootings in Minneapolis and Portland. NBC 7’s M.G Perez reports from Otay Ranch.

Indivisible has scheduled protests against ICE through the weekend. Additional demonstrations are expected to be held on Sunday.

Seeking to provide more affordable care for pet owners in the region, the San Diego Humane Society plans to expand a 500-square-foot clinic at its Morena campus into an $11 million full-service animal hospital, envisioning a summer or fall 2027 opening.

Officials say the project, to be funded entirely by donors, will include space for a high-volume spay/neuter clinic and an area to house dogs that have been surrendered or picked up by humane officers. It will be inside a Gaines Street building that the nonprofit acquired in 2020 along with five other buildings it had previously leased.

The Humane Society plans to triple its vet staffing for the hospital, which will provide dental care, surgeries and emergency services, as well as routine care. The goal is to expand affordable care options in the region, recognizing that some people surrender their pets, or even euthanize them, because they can’t afford veterinary care.

The University of California Davis is also building a new animal hospital in San Diego, expected to open later this year.

The additions come amid a persistent shortage of veterinarians in California and beyond.

Dr. Gary Weitzman, president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society, said officials have discussed building the Community Veterinary Hospital for years. About $3 million has been raised for the project so far.

Several factors are making veterinary care unattainable for some, including a shortage of veterinarians and the high cost of services. Vet offices that do exist may not be able to schedule appointments quickly, while some pet owners live in “veterinary deserts” with no clinics or hospitals nearby, Weizman said.

“Access to care is becoming more and more challenging for most people with their animals,” Weitzman said. “That’s the opposite of what we want to see.”

Emergency hospitals can help fill the gap, he said, but often are too expensive for pet owners.

On its website, the Humane Society describes its community veterinary program as low-cost care that is accessible to pet families who need it most. “By providing affordable, compassionate and exceptional veterinary care to San Diego community members, we help keep pets out of shelters and with the people who love and need them,” the site says. In recent years, the nonprofit has grappled with record numbers of dogs in its shelters.

Weitzman said building the community veterinary hospital will require extensive fundraising, not only for the construction but to pay for staffing.

Officials expect it will cost about $5 million a year to run the hospital and will look at creating endowments to pay for positions. “This will definitely be a financially involved program,” he said. “But I think it’s really game-changing for the Humane Society and for the region.”

Those interested in contributing can email donate@sdhumane.org.

A decade ago, Weitzman said he would have expected private vet practices to oppose the project. Instead, he said, those providers are increasingly sending animals needing care to the Humane Society because their owners cannot pay clinic fees.

“Ten years ago, there definitely would have been concern among my private practice colleagues,” he said. “As of COVID times, there has been no concern whatsoever. As a matter of fact, the opposite — we get referrals from private practices because they don’t want to have to resort to ‘economic euthanasia.’”

The Humane Society is able to charge lower fees because its work is supported by philanthropic gifts, he said.

“What we want to do is provide urgent care that (allows) people to come in and not have to get a second mortgage to get care for their animal,” he said.

The Humane Society began its community veterinary program in 2022, with services initially provided from a mobile clinic. In the summer of 2023, the clinic moved into the Gaines Street space, although mobile clinics are still used on a scaled-back basis, spokesperson Nina Thompson said.

The Humane Society’s website says those eligible for services at the clinic include pet owners with an annual household income under $70,000 or people enrolled in federal or state assistance programs or receiving unemployment benefits. However, clinic staff do not ask for documentation when people show up for appointments.

“If you have a vet that you’re going to now, and you can afford those fees, please stay with your private practice. We’re here for people who can’t get in, and that’s really the purpose of the program,” said Weitzman, a veterinarian who works at the clinic one day a week. “We really just want to be there to solve a problem.”

Beyond the animal hospital project, the Humane Society has worked with a coalition of animal groups to seek legislative changes designed to expand veterinary care options. One new law now in effect allows registered veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants to perform any medical task not expressly prohibited by law. A second bill allows registered veterinary technicians to give vaccines and parasite control measures in shelters without requiring a supervising veterinarian to be on site.

There are other steps being taken to expand veterinary care in San Diego County.

UC Davis is building a state-of-the-art medical center in University City that will offer specialty care, create veterinary teaching and training opportunities, and facilitate clinical research studies.

According to its website, the Janice K. Hobbs UC Davis Veterinary Medical Center Southern California will feature “a pharmacy and dedicated suites for radiography, cardiology, surgery, medical oncology, 24/7 emergency and critical care (ER/ICU) and nephrology/urology.” It is expected to open later this year in a business park on Shoreham Place.

The new facility will take the place of a 3,000-square-foot medical center run by the university in Sorrento Valley in operation for more than 20 years. The new hospital will be eight times the size of the current facility.

UC Davis is also working to expand the number of veterinarians in its training pipeline. It has pledged to expand the number of doctor of veterinary medicine students enrolled from 600 to 800, adding 50 additional students per class beginning in 2029. The university also plans to build a new veterinary education pavilion on campus.

“We are the premier veterinary school in the country and California is facing a veterinary shortage, so with public and donor support we are committed to meeting the needs of the state’s pet parents, agricultural producers, animal shelters and other care providers,” Tom Hinds, a UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine spokesperson, said in a statement.

Rapper Boosie Badazz was sentenced Friday to credit for time served in the case stemming from his 2023 arrest in San Diego for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The 43-year-old, whose real name is Torence Ivy Hatch Jr., was arrested in Chollas View after police found two guns inside a vehicle in which he was riding.

Hatch was in town to shoot a music video and perform at a Gaslamp Quarter nightclub.

In a social media video clip recorded during the video shoot, Hatch was spotted with a gun in his waistband. Police then used a helicopter to track down his vehicle, after which officers conducted a traffic stop and discovered the firearms.

He pleaded guilty to a federal gun possession count last year. As part of his sentence, Hatch will also serve 300 hours of community service.

Defense attorney Meghan Blanco said in a statement released after Friday’s hearing, “The resolution brings a sense of relief, allowing him to finally put this chapter behind him. He can now focus on continuing his music career, dedicating time to his family, and being a positive and inspiring presence for his children and the wider community.”

Federal prosecutors sought a two-year prison sentence, arguing in court papers that custody was warranted due to Hatch’s “insistence on carrying a weapon despite his status as a convicted felon” and allegations that he threatened his security detail shortly after his arrest.

Blanco, in her sentencing memorandum, denied any such threats occurred, noting that the statements are not included in any police reports stemming from the arrest and that no recorded evidence of the threats exist.

The defense attorney wrote that Hatch’s gun was never fired, brandished or used to threaten anyone. She also said there have been no allegations that the weapons were intended for any other offense and that Hatch’s last criminal case had occurred around 10 years prior.

“The case represents an isolated lapse in judgment, not a pattern of ongoing criminal conduct,” Blanco wrote.

Hatch was initially charged by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. His defense attorneys have stated that Hatch intended to plead guilty at the time and was expected to be sentenced to probation, but the state’s case was dismissed before that plea deal could be reached and federal prosecutors took up the case.

U.S. District Judge Cathy Bencivengo, who sentenced Hatch on Friday, previously dismissed the case against him following a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that said it was unconstitutional to prohibit convicted felons who served sentences for nonviolent drug offenses from possessing firearms.

But a larger panel of the 9th Circuit overturned its earlier ruling and San Diego federal prosecutors re-filed the charges against Hatch.

Hatch was previously convicted in Louisiana of marijuana possession. He also was indicted in an alleged murder-for-hire plot, but was acquitted by a Baton Rouge jury in 2012.