Trump’s elimination of HIV funding is a destructive rollback for Black and Latino communities in California

Public health advocates are bracing themselves as the Trump administration’s rollbacks of recent federal cuts take effect in the fiscal year, which runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. Under the Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal, the Trump administration is scheduled to eliminate more than $1.5 billion in HIV prevention and surveillance programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Programs that previously funded testing, outreach and education throughout California will be deeply reduced or shuttered entirely. Some of the most disproportionately impacted demographics will be Latino and Black communities, as well as LGBTQIA+ individuals. 

In California, HIV cases are most prevalent among gay and bisexual men who account for the majority of new diagnoses and people living with HIV, according to reports by the CDC. Thanks to federal initiatives, HIV has been steadily declining over recent years; funding research for treatment options such as antiretroviral therapy, Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Syringe Services Programs (SSPs), and preventative public health education. 

To address the stigma surrounding HIV, the federal government has made investments to improve access to care for communities that are disproportionately affected. This effort aligns with national trends and is influenced by various social and structural factors.

However, much work was still left to be done. According to The Associated Press (AP), overall HIV infection rates declined 23% from 2012 to 2022. But a KFF Health News-Associated Press analysis found the rate has not fallen for Latinos as much as it has for other racial and ethnic groups.

“It’s a really big deal, especially since many of our clients already struggle to navigate the healthcare system,” said Geovanni Botticella, a development associate at Being Alive LA. 

“In California, Latinos and Hispanics are being tested more than any other racial community,” Botticella said regarding their clientele. He confirms, however, that Black populations are the most impacted across the country.

Being Alive LA is a nonprofit organization created and operated by people living with HIV/AIDS. The organization has already begun to feel the impact of the cuts that are taking place. 

Botticella told CALÓ News that their employer was part of a county-funded program called “EHE,” or Ending the HIV Epidemic. The EHE was a federal effort launched during the first Trump administration in 2019 and aimed at reducing new HIV infections in the United States. The initiative targeted a specific group of "Priority Jurisdictions," which included the 48 counties in the U.S. with the highest number of HIV diagnoses, but is currently being phased out.

“I believe we lost around $120,000,”  he says. According to Botticella, the organization previously received approximately $190,000 annually to support its programming and services.  

“And now we're getting close to a little over $38,000; then from January to May, we're going to be dropping to $30,000. So there's a significant difference in other organizations that are part of that EHE program, for the county is also being affected in the same way.”

The 2026 budget will also eliminate funding for programs like the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA). This program provides housing and supportive services for low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS and their families. As a result, those living with HIV/AIDS who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless will be most affected. This also exacerbates the larger housing equity problem currently facing California.

The budget cuts could have potentially devastating consequences, according to HIV advocacy groups. The decision has been scrutinized as the ideological equivalent of eugenics: a policy choice that will disproportionately harm — and in many cases, abandon — the people most at risk.