Wind Advisory
from SAT 12:00 PM MST until SAT 10:00 PM MST, Western Pima County including Ajo/Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Tohono O'odham Nation including Sells, Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys including Nogales, Tucson Metro Area including Tucson/Green Valley/Marana/Vail, South Central Pinal County including Eloy/Picacho Peak State Park, Southeast Pinal County including Kearny/Mammoth/Oracle, Upper San Pedro River Valley including Sierra Vista/Benson, Eastern Cochise County below 5000 ft including Douglas/Wilcox, Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys including Clifton/Safford, White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties including Hannagan Meadow, Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains including Mount Graham, Chiricahua Mountains including Chiricahua National Monument, Dragoon/Mule/Huachuca and Santa Rita Mountains including Bisbee/Canelo Hills/Madera Canyon, Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains including Mount Lemmon/Summerhaven, Baboquivari Mountains including Kitt Peak, Kofa, Central La Paz, Aguila Valley, Southeast Yuma County, Gila River Valley, Northwest Valley, Tonopah Desert, Gila Bend, Buckeye/Avondale, Cave Creek/New River, Deer Valley, Central Phoenix, North Phoenix/Glendale, New River Mesa, Scottsdale/Paradise Valley, Rio Verde/Salt River, East Valley, Fountain Hills/East Mesa, South Mountain/Ahwatukee, Southeast Valley/Queen Creek, Superior, Northwest Pinal County, West Pinal County, Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, Tonto Basin, Mazatzal Mountains, Pinal/Superstition Mountains, Sonoran Desert Natl Monument, San Carlos, Dripping Springs, Globe/Miami, Southeast Gila County

California Supreme Court denies bid to block payments to immigrants

Migrants walk towards El Chaparral port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico, in the boder with the United States on June 21, 2018. - US lawmakers were poised to vote Thursday on long-term Republican-sponsored fixes to immigration amid a firestorm over family

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a bid to block the state's first-in-the-nation plan to give money to immigrants living in the country illegally who are hurt by the coronavirus.

It was the second time in two days that judges refused to stop Gov. Gavin Newsom's $75 million plan to aid an estimated 150,000 unemployed adults who were left out of the stimulus package approved by Congress because of their immigration status.

Coronavirus quarantine is becoming catastrophic for undocumented immigrants

The program offers each adult $500 to be distributed through nonprofit groups in an effort to protect recipients from providing personal information that might cost them other benefits or increase their danger of being deported.

The state’s high court in a one-sentence order rejected the petition filed by the Center for American Liberty, which contended the program violates the state Constitution’s ban on giving gifts to organizations outside of the state’s exclusive control.

It was filed by attorney Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney, who is also a Republican Party official, on behalf of two long-shot Republican candidates for the state Assembly.

Q&A: The status of California's $125M undocumented immigrant fund

A Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday similarly rejected a request from the conservative group Judicial Watch to stop the program. That complaint argued Newsom lacked explicit authority from state lawmakers to provide the money.

None of the $125 million that Newsom announced on April 16 would be available has been distributed yet. Program officials told KTVU they hoped that at least some of the money would get into the hands of an estimated 150,000 people this month. 

KTVU's Lisa Fernandez contributed to this report.