California is preparing to share with an outside organization detailed information about driver's license holders, including immigrants who do not have legal authorization to live in the United States.
Why it matters: The sharing of data breaks a promise the state made a decade ago when it began issuing licenses to unauthorized immigrants, advocates say, and it means more than 1 million people may face higher risk of deportation. Advocates fear that federal immigration officials will try to gain bulk access to the data and use the fact that a person doesn’t have a Social Security number as a signal that they’re deportable.
Potential repercussions: If state officials don’t turn over the data, the Department of Homeland Security may refuse to accept California licenses and IDs at airports, the advocates believe, following a briefing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month. State authorities confirmed they plan to share the data to comply with the Real ID Act of 2005, which set requirements for accepting state identification in federal facilities like airports.
Read on... for more on how the state plans to provide the information to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit organization whose governing board is made up of DMV officials from across the country.
California is preparing to share with an outside organization detailed information about driver's license holders, including immigrants who do not have legal authorization to live in the U.S.
That breaks a promise the state made a decade ago when it began issuing licenses to unauthorized immigrants, advocates say, and it means more than 1 million people may face higher risk of deportation.
But if state officials don’t turn over the data, the Department of Homeland Security may refuse to accept California licenses and IDs at airports, the advocates believe, following a briefing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month. State authorities confirmed they plan to share the data to comply with the Real ID Act of 2005, which set requirements for accepting state identification in federal facilities like airports.
Representatives from four advocacy groups who participated in the briefing told CalMatters the shared information will show whether a person has a Social Security number, meaning it could be used to identify people in the country without authorization.
The state plans to provide the information to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit organization whose governing board is made up of DMV officials from across the country.
The information given to the association will go into the group’s State-to-State Verification system and its platform, known as SPEXS, which allows DMVs and contractors that work with them to verify if someone has more than one license issued in their name. Sharing that data allows agencies that issue driver's licenses to verify that a person doesn’t have duplicate licenses in multiple states.
But advocates fear that federal immigration officials will try to gain bulk access to the data and use the fact that a person doesn’t have a Social Security number as a signal that they’re deportable.
The state received assurances from the association that safeguards will be added to prevent bulk searches for unauthorized immigrant license holders in the database and to prevent access by the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to people who joined the briefing with the DMV and governor’s office. But they remain skeptical.
“Once this data is uploaded to AAMVA, it's out of California's control, no matter what California wants, no matter what protests we may make,” said Ed Hasbrouck with San Francisco civil liberties group The Identity Project, who was on the briefing call.
To carry out the plan to share data with the association the California Legislature will need to approve $55 million to cover the DMV’s costs. It may also need to amend existing law, which states that a Social Security number obtained by the DMV cannot be shared for any other purpose than to address unpaid taxes, parking tickets, or child support.
A spokesperson for the governor’s office declined to confirm details of the call or respond to specific concerns from advocates.
“California continues to lead in supporting immigrant families and protecting personal data from federal overreach,” the spokesperson, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, wrote in an email. “The state has taken the same approach to protect Californians' data during the Real ID implementation, while maintaining Real ID compliance for the benefit of all Californians.”
Ian Grossman, the chief executive of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, told CalMatters that participation in the verification system is voluntary and that only authorized state employees or contractors have access to the system, that bulk searches of the system are not currently allowed, and all searches must contain specific information about an individual like their name and date of birth.
Social security number ‘99999’
For more than a decade, California and 18 other states invited undocumented people to obtain driver's licenses in order to support public safety and the economy. Economists say that such laws improve economic activity, drive billions of dollars in taxes into state coffers, and benefit public safety because people who lack federal authorization to be in the country can feel more comfortable reporting criminal activity.
But the multistate verification system can reveal whether a person is an undocumented immigrant. According to an association manual obtained by CalMatters, the database will include the last five digits of a person’s Social Security number, and if that person has no Social Security number, the association allows states to use the placeholder “99999.”
Advocates fear that federal immigration officials could gain access to information in the database, including on undocumented Californians, by asking local officials to make requests on their behalf.
That sort of end run would not be without precedent.
CalMatters reported on instances last year and this year where local law enforcement agencies broke state law and shared information gathered by automated license plate readers with ICE or Border Patrol agents.
The DMV and the governor’s office say the association will notify California of requests from any entity other than a participating state, including attempts to subpoena the database for information about California license holders, providing them with the opportunity to challenge subpoenas or intervene in other requests. But if a subpoena is accompanied by a gag order the association could not deliver any such notification. An agreement between the association and the California DMV obtained by CalMatters states that the association will inform California “if legally permitted” if it receives a subpoena “to release, disclose, discuss, or obtain access to S2S information.”
Hasbrouck believes the DMV and governor’s office “must have known” the reassurances they got from the association were “hollow given the possibility of gag orders.”
He also said that, as a private entity, the association has less protection from court orders or subpoenas than a government agency. Its data sharing is also more easily hidden, since the association is not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests or open meeting laws.
Advocates see ‘a direct betrayal’
Advocates who spoke with CalMatters said sharing the driver's license information with the association sells out immigrant license holders. The law that created the program prohibits the state from using information the program gathers to determine citizenship.
“It's unclear how extreme the danger people are being put into by this decision but there ’s no doubt we told people with AB 60 licenses this would never happen, but it’s happening, and that’s a direct betrayal,” said Tracy Rosenberg, head of advocacy at Oakland Privacy, who was on the call.
Pedro Rios, director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program at the American Friends Service Committee, was not on the call, but echoed Rosenberg and Nguy, calling the data sharing plan “a betrayal of California’s commitment to protect and defend all its residents, especially those who have an AB 60 driver's license.”
Becca Cramer-Mowder, who was on the call representing the Electronic Frontier Foundation, questioned why the governor’s office and DMV are in a rush to comply with the Real ID Act two decades after it passed at a time of increased pressure from the Trump administration.
“It just seems like we’re missing the bigger picture of this moment in time,” she said
The plan to share license information with the database depends on the state budget process because the DMV is requesting $55 million to move the data over to the association’s systems.
At a state Senate budget hearing last month to approve the funding, lawmakers questioned why the state should follow a timeline set by a private organization and share part of Californians’ Social Security numbers. They also asked the DMV to explore the reasoning behind a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma lawmakers in January to block data sharing with the association, in which they argued that sharing personal data collected for driver’s licenses violates state law there.
DMV director Steve Gordon told them that California unsuccessfully tried to convince the motor vehicle association to consider a unique identifier other than a social security number and “anybody who has a social security number that's sharing information of course would have a concern” but told lawmakers “we need to go. We need to go now.”
DMV spokesperson Jaime Garza said that Californians can submit a request to surrender or cancel a driver's license but that driving without a license is illegal.
Nick Miller, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, told CalMatters lawmakers continue to work on the policy issue.
“Protecting immigrant communities from the Trump administration's relentless attacks — and ensuring Californians are empowered and defended — continues to be a top priority for the Speaker,” he said in an email.
Rosenberg with Oakland Privacy suggested that the state might be better off opting out of the Real ID system than sharing information about its license holders, noting that more than 60 percent of Californians already have passports.
“I just wonder what would happen if the state asked Californians to get a passport in order to fly for a couple of years in order to protect 1 million Californians with AB 60 licenses. Maybe we should give people that opportunity.”
The Supreme Court gave the Trump administration the green light to begin mass deportations of people who have been living and working legally in the United States for years, some even decades.
About the ruling: By a 6-to-3 vote along ideological lines, the court's conservative majority ruled that the President has virtually unrestrained power to end the Temporary Protected Status program, known as TPS.
The backstory: Congress enacted the TPS law in 1990 to allow fully vetted and eligible migrants to live and work legally in the U.S. if they cannot return safely to their home countries because of natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other extraordinary conditions. The Department of Homeland Security designates which foreign countries qualify for TPS.
How many people are affected? There are more than a dozen countries that have been designated with TPS, including the two in this case— Haiti, with 330,000 displaced persons living legally in the U.S., and Syria with roughly 3,800. The Trump administration has attempted to strip TPS from 13 of the 17 countries that had it before his second term began. As for the remaining four countries that still have TPS—El Salvador, Lebanon, Sudan, and Ukraine, they may well lose their TPS when they come up for renewal this fall.
The Supreme Court gave the Trump administration the green light to begin mass deportations of people who have been living and working legally in the United States for years, some even decades. By a 6-to-3 vote along ideological lines, the court's conservative majority ruled that the President has virtually unrestrained power to end the Temporary Protected Status program, known as TPS.
Congress enacted the TPS law in 1990 to allow fully vetted and eligible migrants to live and work legally in the U.S. if they cannot return safely to their home countries because of natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other extraordinary conditions. The Department of Homeland Security designates which foreign countries qualify for TPS.
Since the law's enactment, every President, Republican and Democrat, has embraced it, except Trump. He, in contrast, is trying to end the temporary protected status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants. And on Thursday , the high court gave him the tools to do it.
Writing for the court majority, Justice Samuel Alito that under the TPS law, the president has unreviewable authority to end the program, without intervention from the courts.
There are more than a dozen countries that have been designated with TPS, including the two in this case— Haiti, with 330,000 displaced persons living legally in the U.S., and Syria with roughly 3,800. The U.S. State Department currently warns Americans in the strongest terms not to go to Haiti or because of the dangers of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, unrest, and limited health care. The court's decision means that the President can end the protected status of Haitians and Syrians without the possibility of judicial review. Migrants living legally in the U.S. from those countries will likely revert to illegal status, meaning they will lose their jobs and face deportation, with many of them forced to leave their American-born children behind.
The Trump administration has attempted to strip TPS from 13 of the 17 countries that had it before his second term began. As for the remaining four countries that still have TPS—El Salvador, Lebanon, Sudan, and Ukraine, they may well lose their TPS when they come up for renewal this fall.
Dissenting from today's decision were the court's three liberals.
Reaction to the decision was fast and furious among immigrant rights groups. "Revoking TPS protection is not just cruel; it is economic self-sabotage that will rip billions out of the U.S. economy and destabilize communities nationwide," said Todd SchulteFWD.us, a bipartisan group that advocates for immigration reform, said in a statement.
According to the group, 200,000 Haitian TPS holders are in the U.S. workforce, including 15,000 agricultural workers, 13,000 nursing assistants, and 8,000 caregivers. What's more, the group says, TPS holders generate an estimated $5.9 billion for the U.S. economy each year and annually pay a total of $1.5 billion in federal and state taxes.
A Trump executive order pushes involuntary treatment for unhoused people; the VA denies that would include unhoused vets.
The backstory: While the Trump administration has promised new housing for vets, President Donald Trump also signed an executive order last year titled "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets," which leans heavily toward institutionalizing unhoused people against their will.
Why it matters: More than 30,000 U.S. military veterans are unhoused, according to the latest government data from an annual one-night "point in time count." That number is down significantly in the past decade, which most experts credit to a straightforward combination of robust funding and a philosophy focused on offering housing without prerequisites, called housing first.
Pedro Jauregui, with the organization U.S. Vets in Long Beach, Calif., once spent a whole year getting one unhoused veteran to come in from the cold.
"The first time I met him, I had to walk away 'cause he gave me some choice words, waved a one finger at me and said he was gonna kill me," Jauregui said.
But a year of regular visits, including plenty of hot coffee and doughnuts, and Jauregui convinced the vet to come indoors. After that, he sobered up and started using his VA benefits for college.
"We build relationships and then we use whatever we can to get the veteran the help he needs," Jauregui said.
More than 30,000 U.S. military veterans are unhoused, according to the latest government data from an annual one-night "point in time count." That number is down significantly in the past decade, which most experts credit to a straightforward combination of robust funding and a philosophy focused on offering housing without prerequisites, called housing first.
While the Trump administration has promised new housing for vets, President Trump also signed an executive order last year titled "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets," which leans heavily toward institutionalizing unhoused people against their will. This winter, NPR obtained slides describing a proposed VA plan called "Safe Harbor," which would include veterans in that shift to involuntary treatment. Then, in March, the VA put out a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department about state court guardianship for veterans.
But VA Secretary Doug Collins says the memorandum has nothing to do with the Safe Harbor proposal.
"We have veterans — not homeless, just veterans — who are in our facilities," he said at the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans annual conference last month. "They have no family, they have no representation, and they really are not in a position to actually make competent choices for their own healthcare."
Collins said the memorandum will help those veterans get important medical decisions made.
"The court will find somebody in the community, not a VA employee, not a VA attorney, [who] will then represent that veteran with the respect to their medical well-being, moving them along, getting them the healthcare that they need," he said.
Collins says the leaked slide deck describing project Safe Harbor was still just a proposal, and he accused the lead Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Mark Takano, of distorting it.
"Somebody in our building leaked it to the Hill. And guess what? Rep. Takano happily put out information that wasn't correct," Collins said. "I've got veterans who are sitting in hospitals who can't make competent choices for themselves to get better … next-level care. We're helping them do that. … When it came out that we were attacking homeless and going after homeless, I wanted to puke," he said.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins in the Oval Office at the White House on Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C.
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Takano claimed in a statement to NPR that the VA is withholding information about the program from the public.
"I've given VA multiple opportunities at public hearings and in congressional requests to clarify its intent, and it refuses to do so," Takano said. "Doug Collins repeatedly fails to recognize or plan for the risks associated with guardianship, an industry rife with fraud and exploitation."
Takano said his staff will continue to collect information from whistleblowers about courts putting veterans under guardianship.
A VA spokesman reiterated to NPR that the guardianship memorandum is not connected to the leaked "Safe Harbor" plan, which echoed President Trump's executive order about institutionalizing unhoused people. Several veterans advocacy groups have expressed skepticism.
"I like to think that it's altruistic, like they really wanna help veterans in hospital situations have the decision-making skills that they need. But the fact that it also applies to homeless veterans and those veterans at risk of homelessness, I think, is really a slippery slope," said Jess Finucan, director of policy and advocacy at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, says the veterans service community is worried.
"What the administration has said publicly on this proposal is at odds with the documentation on the project and its pilot program. That original documentation was directly linked to the president's executive order, calling for involuntary commitment of people experiencing homelessness. I think it's disingenuous for anybody from the VA to say that this was meant for a completely different population," she said.
What proud vet wants to be a burden?
Back in Long Beach, NPR recently rode along with Pedro Jauregui and Veronica Hood, from the group U.S. Vets, as they did street outreach. They both served in the military, but at this point they've spent nearly as many years serving unhoused vets.
"Rather than make it something traumatic where we're forcing you into it, let outreach workers like us build the relationship," Jauregui said.
Their aim was to track down an 87-year-old Navy veteran named Curtis Ervin who has been sleeping in his truck. Even though he's probably been uhoused for decades, Ervin is reluctant to accept offers of housing, Hood said.
"He might think he'd be a burden on people. So he really just wants to do it on his own," she said.
U.S. Navy veteran Curtis Ervin, 87, was homeless for decades before being moved into housing this year.
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Veronica Hood
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"And what proud man or vet wants to be a burden on anybody?" Jauregui added from the passenger seat.
After driving to a few different places where unhoused vets camp out,Hood spots Ervin's maroon pickup parked near a Jack in the Box. She hands him a warm packed meal and some water through the driver's side window.
Ervin said he joined the Navy in 1956.
"I was a diesel engine mechanic. And on the ship, that means you're everything," Ervin said.
His last ship was the USS Bainbridge, a nuclear-powered destroyer.
"I was aboard when they brought the nuclear fleet to Vietnam, when they brought the [USS aircraft carrier] Enterprise, my ship escorted her. We went around Africa," he recalls.
Ervin said he's been bouncing between hospitals for years, and he can't remember the last time he had a home. Sleeping in a seat has made his legs swell up.
"Right now I'm in the truck. For the last two, three years, I've been dancing from hospital to hospital. … I finally got out because they tried to keep me," Ervin said.
He doesn't like being ordered around.
"I got enough of that in the Navy," he said, even though he's been out for 60 years.
But Veronica Hood seems to have built a rapport, and Ervin said he'll be here tomorrow to go with her to the hospital, and then get a roof over his head.
" I have never used the VA, but I am scheduled to go to the VA tomorrow," he said, "and I hope they don't keep me there."
Driving back, Hood and Jauregui said they know some unhoused people are a danger to themselves and maybe others, but for the most part, they wouldn't want to see vets forced into treatment.
"As you saw with Ervin, it could be both beneficial or it could be extremely traumatic," said Hood.
"My husband is also a veteran. He just retired, and I would be worried for him, too, if I wasn't around, if someone would show him the same compassion. It's how I would want Pedro to be treated. I'm sure how he would want me to be treated," she said
By phone after the visit, Hood told NPR that Curtis Ervin came in the next day, and he's now in housing for the first time in more years than he can remember.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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Good Boy and Friends bring back their annual wine and food fest for the fifth year.
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Courtesy Good Boy and Friends
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In this edition:
A wine and food festival, the NYC ballet is here, CicLAvia heads to Leimert Park and more of the best things to do this weekend.
Highlights:
The New York City Ballet is here for just a few days, so don’t miss their first L.A. performance in more than 20 years. The programs feature classic pieces from George Balanchine and New York City Ballet Co-Founding Choreographer Jerome Robbins, plus more contemporary works by Ulysses Dove, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Gianna Reisen and Christopher Wheeldon.
Sunday is a big day in Leimert Park! Head to the heart of the newly designated Historic South L.A. Black Cultural District for both the 16th Annual Day of the Ancestors: Festival of Masks and the car-free CicLAviathat will run from Leimert Park to Expo Park down Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Good Boy and Friends are back for their fifth year — this time in a bigger venue — for their “new-school wine and food fest.” More than 60 wineries; favorite restaurants like LaSorted’s, Mr. Jong and Canyon Coffee; art galleries; DJs and more will be on hand with good eats, good tastes, space to dance and more. Plus, this year also features a non-alcoholic ticket with pours from a variety of NA vendors!
I wanted to give you a heads-up about one low-cost event and a free perk to get on top of as we barrel into summer. The first is snagging tickets to the quite eclectic lineup happening at the America 250 concert at the Coliseum on July 4. Tickets, which benefit Giving 4th, are just $17.76 (natch). The show features performances from Chris Stapleton and The Smashing Pumpkins, and is hosted by Queen Latifah.
If you’d rather get away from the crowds, make sure to secure your free California State Parks Pass before July 6.
Licorice Pizza has your music picks for the weekend, starting with Kid Cudi and Big Boi at the Crypto.com Arena, Natalia Lafourcade at the Dolby, Gia Margaret at Sid The Cat, Sekou at the Troubadour, electroclash veteran Green Velvet at Exchange L.A., and if you feel like getting sexed up, Color Me Badd at Stage Red in Fontana — all on Friday.
Saturday A$AP Rocky is at the Forum; Kaleo and Dawes are at the Novo; Dillstradamus (aka Dillon Francis and Flosstradamus) play the Palladium; Pomplamoose is at Pacific Electric; “Summer of Soul” with Jeffrey Osborne, Sheila E. and more is at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts; and the Freestyle Festival with Lisa Lisa, Stevie B and more is at the Toyota Arena.
Finally, there’s “A Roots Picnic Experience: A Great Night in Hip-Hop,” with the Roots and all-stars like Nas, T.I., Bun B and De La Soul at the Hollywood Bowl.
Through Sunday, June 28 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion 135 N. Grand Ave., Downtown L.A. COST: FROM $44; MORE INFO
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Courtesy The Music Center
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What a treat. The New York City Ballet is here for just a few days, so don’t miss their first L.A. performance in more than 20 years. There are two different programs, featuring classic pieces from George Balanchine and New York City Ballet Co-Founding Choreographer Jerome Robbins, plus more contemporary works by Ulysses Dove, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Gianna Reisen and Christopher Wheeldon. The programs feature recorded music and live performances by the New York City Ballet Orchestra.
16th Annual Day of the Ancestors: Festival of Masks
Sunday, June 28, 12 p.m. 4343 Leimert Blvd., Leimert Park COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Sunday is a big day in Leimert Park! Head to the heart of the newly designated Historic South L.A. Black Cultural District for both the 16th Annual Day of the Ancestors: Festival of Masks and the car-free CicLAvia that will run from Leimert Park to Expo Park down Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. The Festival of Masks features a libation ceremony and procession, plus dance and musical performances. CicLAvia has meetup hubs for the neighborhood (come say hi to LAist staff at the Leimert Park hub!), water stations, and much more. Check out local neighborhood gems on the map and explore Leimert Park this weekend.
QWERTY: A Typewriter Festival
Saturday, June 27, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The International Printing Museum 315 West Torrance Blvd., Carson COST: $12; MORE INFO
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Laura Rivera
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Clickity clack, it’s time for the QWERTY Typewriter Festival. Did you know that Carson is home to the International Printing Museum? A must-visit for all the writerly nerds among us, myself included. And also Tom Hanks. It’s National Typewriter Day, and the museum is celebrating with a Type-In, where you can type on vintage typewriters, write your own story, see unusual typewriters and maybe even take home your own analog writing device.
Good Boy and Friends wine and food fest
Saturday, June 27, 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Francois Ghebaly + Night Gallery Campus 2288-2308 E. 16th St., Arts District COST: FROM $35; MORE INFO
Good Boy and Friends are back for their fifth year — this time in a bigger venue — for their “new-school wine and food fest.” More than 60 wineries; favorite restaurants like LaSorted’s, Mr. Jong and Canyon Coffee; art galleries; DJs and more will be on hand with good eats, good tastes, space to dance and more. Plus, this year also features a non-alcoholic ticket with pours from a variety of NA vendors, not just water and Diet Coke for the designated drivers, and a special (free, ticketed) dog area so you can bring your pup.
Culver City Rock and Mineral: Fiesta of Gems Show
Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28 Veterans Memorial Auditorium 4117 Overland Ave., Culver City COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Dan Farrell
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Unsplash
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I had no idea people liked rocks so much until I went to the Joshua Tree Rock and Gem show with a rockhound friend and learned that some people REALLY like rocks. If that’s you, head to the free Culver City Fiesta of Gems show and find your next rare wavellite or blue cap tourmaline.
Chef Sheldon Simeon x LaSorted’s
Friday, June 26, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. La Sorted’s 984 N. Broadway, Chinatown COST: FROM $7; MORE INFO
Grab the latest collab pie at LaSorted’s Chinatown location, “The Loco Moco” from the legendary Chef Sheldon Simeon (@chefwonder). A Top Chef fan-favorite, owner of Tin Roof and “culinary ambassador of Maui,” Sheldon will be on hand for a one-night-only ticketed party to celebrate his new cookbook, Ohana Style. Seven dollars gets you a slice, $25 gets you a pie, $40 gets you a slice and the book.
GenX Storytelling Series: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Sunday, June 28, 4:30 p.m. The Wicked Wolf 2332 Pacific Ave., Long Beach COST: $5; MORE INFO
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Courtesy The Wicked Wolf
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Share your best story about ditching school at this storytelling event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1986 classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Hosted by Jamie Sims Coakley, the series will feature other favorite GenX movies with themed sharing (or oversharing as the case may be!) throughout the summer, including favorite concert stories (Spinal Tap, July 19) and favorite summer romances (Dirty Dancing, August 16).
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published June 25, 2026 5:00 AM
L.A. County Department of Health Services EMT Christopher Phan distributes naloxone along Aetna Street in Van Nuys in March 2022.
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Christina House
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Topline:
Drug overdose deaths in Los Angeles County dropped 6% in 2025 and have fallen nearly 30% since peaking in 2022, according to a report the Department of Public Health released Thursday.
The trend: In L.A. County, the drug overdose crisis claimed 2,298 lives last year, with methamphetamine and fentanyl continuing to drive most of those deaths. Drug overdose deaths peaked in L.A. County in 2022, with 3,220 deaths (or 30.8 per 100,000 population.) They’ve declined in the three years since: down by 3% in 2023, 22% in 2024, and 6% last year, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. The county’s progress tracks just behind a larger national trend. Across the U.S., overdose deaths dropped about 35% from their 2022 peak of 107,941 to an estimated 69,973 in 2025, according to the CDC.
Fentanyl: Fentanyl was a factor in 49% of the county's overdose deaths in 2025, down from 64% two years earlier. The 1,135 fentanyl-related deaths recorded last year marked a 10% decline from 2024. Fentanyl's recent decline follows a steep climb. Accidental fentanyl overdose and poisoning deaths in L.A. County rose from about 100 in 2016 to more than 2,000 in 2023, according to county data reports.
Methamphetamine: Methamphetamine remained involved in roughly 61% of the county's overdose deaths in recent years. The synthetic stimulant contributed to 1,405 deaths in 2025, down 7% from the previous year.
Read on ... for more what's driving the decline.
Drug overdose deaths in Los Angeles County dropped 6% in 2025 and have fallen nearly 30% since peaking in 2022, according to a report the Department of Public Health released Thursday.
L.A. County health officials said the recent trend shows county-funded substance abuse programs are working.
“Three consecutive years of fewer overdose deaths in L.A. County is proof that sustained investments in prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services saves lives,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the county’s Department of Public Health.
The county’s progress tracks just behind a larger national trend. Across the U.S., overdose deaths dropped about 35% from their 2022 peak of 107,941 to an estimated 69,973 in 2025, according to the CDC.
The CDC credits a number of factors for the nationwide decline in drug-related deaths, including the distribution of naloxone — a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses — improved access to treatment and decreases in drug potency due to shifts in the illegal drug supply.
In L.A. County, the drug overdose crisis claimed 2,298 lives last year, with methamphetamine and fentanyl continuing to drive most of those deaths.
Fentanyl's role is major but shrinking. The synthetic opioid was a factor in 49% of the county's overdose deaths in 2025, down from 64% two years earlier. The 1,135 fentanyl-related deaths recorded last year marked a 10% decline from 2024.
Methamphetamine remained involved in roughly 61% of the county's overdose deaths in recent years. The synthetic stimulant contributed to 1,405 deaths in 2025, down 7% from the previous year.
L.A. County’s overdose strategy leans heavily on “harm reduction” — a public health approach that treats addiction as a health condition and focuses on keeping drug users alive rather than requiring abstinence. That includes distributing naloxone, fentanyl test strips and clean smoking supplies.
But aspects of the harm reduction approach have come under fire from the Trump administration, which argues they enable illegal drug use. In April, federal officials barred grant money from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) from paying for syringes, pipes or fentanyl test strips.
By the numbers
Drug overdose has been the leading cause of accidental deaths in Los Angeles County since 2017, when drug deaths outpaced those from motor vehicles and guns.
Drug overdose deaths peaked in L.A. County in 2022, with 3,220 deaths (or 30.8 per 100,000 population.)
They’ve declined in the three years since: down by 3% in 2023, 22% in 2024, and 6% last year, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. That decline mirrors a trend seen across the country over the same period.
Fentanyl's recent decline follows a steep climb. Accidental fentanyl overdose and poisoning deaths in L.A. County rose from about 100 in 2016 to more than 2,000 in 2023, according to county data reports.
In 2022 and 2023, fentanyl surpassed methamphetamine as the most common drug listed as a cause of death in county medical examiner records. That trend began to reverse in 2024, when fentanyl overdose deaths fell 37%.
Disproportionate risks
L.A. County’s overdose crisis hits some communities harder than others. L.A. County neighborhoods where more than 30% of families live below the federal poverty level had overdose death rates nearly five times that of areas where less than 10% live below poverty level.
That disparity has increased steadily over the past decade. In 2016, the rate of overdose death was 1.6 times greater in poorer areas, compared to more affluent ones.
Black Angelenos disproportionately die of drug overdose. According to the county data, Black residents make up 7% of L.A. County’s population but accounted for 22% of drug overdose deaths last year.
Drug overdose remains the leading cause of death among L.A. County’s more than 72,000 unhoused residents, who are 46 times more likely to die from overdose than the general population, according to a separate recent county report.
In 2024, unhoused Angelenos accounted for 36% of all drug overdose fatalities in L.A. County.
