The Brief

As in-person voting begins in California’s special election on redistricting, Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly asserted that the Trump administration could send immigration agents to polling places in an attempt to intimidate voters and depress turnout.

The governor’s warnings, while unspecific, speak to what community leaders call real, palpable fears within some Latino communities that immigration agents could show up on Election Day. And ever since the Supreme Court greenlit using racial profiling in immigration stops, even U.S. citizens are scared they could be detained simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“You’re going to likely see members of our military in and around polling booths and voting places all across this country,” Newsom warned last week during a virtual event with former President Barack Obama in support of Proposition 50. “I would say the same about ICE and Border Patrol, and I say that soberly.”

Newsom has not provided any evidence to suggest that the Department of Homeland Security will deploy immigration agents to polling sites. But he pointed to the Los Angeles campaign launch event for Prop. 50, his plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats, where federal immigration agents blocked supporters from entering the area and detained a nearby strawberry vendor.

A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote in a statement that the agency “is not planning operations targeting polling locations," but that if agents are tracking "a dangerous criminal alien" who goes near a voting site they could be arrested there. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Patrol did not respond to emailed questions.

The governor argues that the Trump administration’s indiscriminate immigration raids, military and National Guard deployments are intended to suppress Democratic voters and keep Republicans in control of Congress for the duration of Trump’s presidency.

“We know the intention of this administration — to rig next year’s midterms,” Newsom told reporters recently. “It’s absolutely predictable. It’s a script that’s been written for centuries. It’s the authoritarian playbook.”

The Trump administration’s Justice Department announced on Friday that it will deploy personnel to monitor polling sites in five counties: Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside on Election Day. Fresno, Kern and Riverside counties are majority Latino.

The poll monitors will “ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law,” according to the department. The administration has not said whether the agents will be stationed at polling sites in addition to county election offices where ballots are counted.

Democrats denounced the plan.

“Deploying federal forces to ‘monitor’ elections is nothing more than an intimidation tactic meant to suppress the vote,” said Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party. “What Republicans are really afraid of is record voter participation and a clear verdict from the people of California in support of Prop 50.”

‘Alarming’ number of Latinos fear ICE at polls

The vast majority of Californians vote by mail, especially since the state adopted universal mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just over 80% of votes cast in the 2024 presidential election were mail-in ballots.

But casting a ballot in-person on Election Day is a point of pride for many American immigrants, especially Latinos, said Yvette Martinez, executive director of the California Democratic Party.

“It’s a cultural thing,” said Martinez. “People want to show up and say, ‘I’m patriotic, here’s my civic duty. I’m here to vote, I’m here to make my voice heard. And when you quell that, it’s dangerous. And it’s actually sad.”

In a September survey of 1,200 registered Latino voters conducted by the Latino Community Foundation, a nonprofit that funds Latino advocacy, 53% said they planned to vote in person. Of those, more than half said they would vote on Election Day.

The same survey also found that two-thirds of the Latino voters surveyed said they were at least somewhat worried that ICE or Border Patrol agents could show up at polling places. The poll had a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

“These are citizens of this country. And if they are concerned about immigration or any type of federal presence at in-person voting sites, that is alarming,” said Christian Arana, who leads policy strategy for the foundation.

“If people want to vote in person, it is their fundamental right,” Arana said. “I never want us to buy into the fear that you can't participate in democracy because immigration enforcement may show up.”

Federal immigration authorities face off against protesters during an ICE raid at Ambiance Apparel in Downtown Los Angeles on June 6, 2025. Photo by J.W. Hendricks for CalMatters So far in the race for Prop. 50, only 9% of registered Latino voters have returned their ballots, according to the most recent data available from Political Data Inc., compared to 19% of white voters and 13% of Black voters. California pollster Ben Tulchin, who recently surveyed Latino voters about Prop. 50, said those numbers “are not unusual” since Latino voters tend to lag other ethnic and racial groups in casting ballots.

Sen. Anna Caballero, Democrat of Merced, said U.S. citizens told her they’re afraid to go outside, especially when there have been reports of ICE sightings in the region. Many of her constituents come from mixed-status families in which some family members are citizens and others aren’t. She blames the Trump administration for terrifying those families so much that they don’t want to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.

“This idea that all you have to do is pull out your driver's license, or pull out some kind of documentation, that's a fantasy,” said Caballero. “U.S. citizens have been detained and taken into custody.”

A recent investigation by ProPublica found that at least 170 U.S. citizens have been wrongfully detained by ICE since the second Trump administration took office, prompting intense criticism from opponents. Top Democrats on the House and Senate government oversight committees, Rep. Robert Garcia of California and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, have opened an investigation.

Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, another Merced Democrat and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, said ever since the Supreme Court issued its racial profiling ruling earlier this summer, she keeps her passport in her bag at all times.

“Just because you may look like an immigrant — which I don't even know what that really means — you know, I could also be targeted,” Soria said.

‘My voice will be heard’

Opponents of Newsom’s redistricting plan say the governor’s warnings about Election Day intimidation and interference from federal agents are exaggerated.

“People see it for what it is. It’s politics, it’s headline-grabbing,” said Hector Barajas, a spokesperson for the No on 50 campaign.

Barajas denounced Democrats for what he said was intentional disenfranchisement of nonwhite voters, since white college-educated voters are historically far more likely to turn out during off-year elections.

“This is what happens with special elections, is people don't turn out to vote, especially Hispanics, which is a sad tragedy in itself,” Barajas said.

Martinez said Democratic Party volunteers are for the first time urging voters to return their ballots early via mail or drop-off when they go door to door and handing out pamphlets with instructions for how to report any suspicious activity near polling sites.

The party has also trained hundreds of volunteers as poll watchers who will monitor polling sites for signs of intimidation or federal interference starting the weekend before Election Day.

Arana, with the Latino Community Foundation, said he’s choosing to vote in person as an act of defiance.

“I'm seeing this as a form of a declaration that I am a Latino man in the state,” he said. “My voice will be heard on this issue, and no one is ever gonna take that right away from me.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Thousands more students joined walkouts Friday to protest the Trump administration’s militarized crackdown on immigrants, detainment of children and violence against U.S. citizens protesting the raids.

By mid-afternoon, nearly 12,500 students from more than 85 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District had walked out, according to a district spokesperson. Hundreds of students in other districts — from Pasadena and the greater San Gabriel Valley to Orange County — also marched in their communities.

At Olive Vista Middle School in Sylmar, about 100 students—some as young as 11—walked out of their science, English, and math classes, then walked to a nearby park.

For many students, Friday’s walkout marks the first time they’ve ever participated in a protest. And after months of watching federal immigration agents violently detain people on social media, the students told LAist that protesting — on behalf of their communities and in honor of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — filled them with a sense of freedom and power.

Isaac, a seventh grader, walked out of science class.

“This felt like I was breaking out of some sort of chamber,” he told LAist. “I felt like I was being free for once.”

Many of the 12-year-old’s family members are from Mexico and he’s been worried about what could happen if they’re detained.

“I'm standing up for my family and my friends, our community, really,” he said. “The most we [can] do is what we're doing right now.”

After months of being scared every time his parents go to work, Isaac said the protest was a type of salve.

“It makes us feel better,” he said. “It makes us stronger.”

M, right, is a sixth grader at Olive Vista and organized the school's walkout.

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How to organize a middle school

A few weeks ago, M, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Olive Vista Middle School, asked her mom, Maritza Ocegueda, why students in Minnesota and elsewhere were walking out of school. LAist has agreed to refer to her solely by her first initial, after her mom raised concerns for her safety.

Ocegueda shared with her daughter that she walked out of Van Nuys High School as a junior in 2006 to protest proposed federal immigration legislation. Nearly 40,000 students from across Southern California joined the movement.

“ I was floored,” Ocegueda said. “It inspires me and gives me that little bit of hope… Maybe we can make a change.”

M decided to organize a walkout at her school concurrently with other students in the community. 

She made several lunchtime announcements about a walkout on Friday, Feb. 6 at 10:24 a.m.

“If you'd like to join, please come over here and if you have any questions, just ask me.”

Those announcements did not come easily to M, who is soft spoken and admittedly shy. “ I try to be the bravest I can,” she said. “ I want [my classmates] to understand how serious this [is] … [The federal government is not] letting people be themselves, like, they can't go to Home Depot without feeling unsafe.”

M, and several other students said some teachers and administrators discouraged their organizing. M said at one point she was pulled out of class for more than an hour to talk about the walkout.

“ One of the things I told the school [is] you dropped the ball because this is a learning moment,” Ocegueda said. However, she said she’s open to more conversations with school and district leaders on how to support students.

Maritza Ocegueda's daughter M organized Olive Vista Middle School's walkout. She said she's active in the community passing out food and clothes to unhoused neighbors and helping other people connect with resources.

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A Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson provided a statement that said students were informed that walkouts are not school-sponsored, there are spaces on campus for students to exercise their freedom of speech and that they would be marked absent for missed class periods. A similar message was posted to the school’s Facebook page Thursday afternoon.

“Administrators routinely meet with students to share safety information and clarify options for on-campus expression—not to threaten or discipline,” the statement read. “Leaving campus during instructional time without permission is discouraged; that message is about safety and supervision, not suppressing speech.”

M said that other teachers were more supportive and helped her spread the word about the walkout to other students.

“ What I've learned is students should not have to come protest 'cause that's what the adults should be doing,” M said. “Adults should know better to help out the community and students should not have to come out.”

Honks of support 

By mid-morning, students began to trickle out of Olive Vista.

As students joined the group of young activists, those already outside cheered and passing cars honked their horns in support. One SUV had a Mexican flag poking out of the sunroof.

Out by the curb, some of their parents, including M’s mom, were waiting. The adults encouraged the students to stick together and made sure the group waited for the light to turn before crossing the street to Sylmar Park.

" What's in my heart is that my parents are Mexican and I wanna support," said Jayden, an Olive Vista 6th grader.

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Once they gathered, the middle schoolers marched to a nearby park, carrying homemade signs and flags of Latin America.

One student turned to a friend and nervously quipped: “I just really hope we don’t get shot or tear gassed.”

‘They don't understand how much we love our parents.’

In conversation with LAist, multiple students said they live in fear of being separated from their families. They also worry that their parents could be mistreated if they are detained by federal agents.

Eleven-year-old Alejandro, for instance, usually goes to Sylmar Park to play baseball. Today, he said, he went to the protest to honor his mom and dad, Mexican immigrants from the states of Michoacán and Jalisco.

To critics who think he should have stayed in class, he said: “They don't understand how much we love our parents.”

“I just don't like how Donald Trump is calling us ‘animals,’ when we're the ones working our asses off to live paycheck to paycheck, while he's up there sitting in his chair throwing out orders at Kristi Noem,” said eighth-grader Jesús, referring to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The 13-year-old had his family and his neighbors in mind during the protest, along with 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, whose deportation the federal government is working to expedite.

“The little boy who was captured with his little bunny hat, he was captured and he was sent to prison,” Jesús noted. “And that's just crazy, because how are you going to let a little kid inside a prison?”

The federal immigration activity in the San Fernando Valley has also left him feeling nervous, even when he is on campus. “I'm trying to study and then I just get reminded: maybe there's somebody waiting outside to take us.”

Sixth grader Sophia’ said she walked out for her grandmother who’s from Mexico. "I wanna represent our people and show that we aren't bad," Sophia said. "We are actually, like, a great community."

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As the students chanted and waved their signs, adults passed out snacks, water and pizza purchased with money donated from the community.

“They're here with clear intentions and they're here for a purpose,” said Michelle, the parent of another young protestor who requested LAist only use her first name. “I’m just proud of them.”

M, the organizer, said she wouldn’t have used that term to describe herself before the protest.

“Now that I'm looking at myself, I do see myself as a helper,” M said. She plans to continue helping her community, for example by distributing food and clothes to unhoused neighbors.

And she has some advice for any aspiring student organizers.

“ I was a shy kid, so I want them to be brave and speak up,” M said.

She said she planned to finish up the day at school after she ate.

Topline:

Why it matters: King Taco helped establish the template for the modern L.A. taqueria — shifting the city's understanding of tacos from the hard-shell, Americanized version to soft tortillas filled with carne asada, carnitas and tacos al pastor. As the late food critic Jonathan Gold noted, King Taco "solidified what we all think of as the modern Los Angeles taco sensibility."

Why now: The nomination comes as part of the city's ongoing effort to recognize Latino cultural landmarks.

The backstory: Founder Raul Martinez launched King Taco from a converted ice cream truck in 1974, eventually opening the Cypress Park brick-and-mortar location that became the chain's flagship. The business grew to 24 locations across Southern California, becoming a model for immigrant entrepreneurship and establishing key Mexican dishes like tacos al pastor and carnitas as L.A. staples.

What's next: The Cultural Heritage Commission will determine whether King Taco's original location retains sufficient historic integrity and continues to convey its cultural significance. If approved, King Taco would become one of the few designated restaurant landmarks recognizing Latino culinary contributions.

President Donald Trump's harsh immigration tactics are taking a political hit as new polls show a majority of Americans feel federal agents have "gone too far" in enforcing immigration laws.

It's not just Democrats who are concerned, but also independent voters who are expected to play a major role in the upcoming midterm elections.

"The base loves it, but it's an issue for the independent voters who decide elections in this country," said Alex Conant, a veteran Republican strategist. "Independents want a strong border and they want to deport criminals, but they're really uneasy with having masked federal agents going around in neighborhoods, deporting anyone that they see — as the Democrats are portraying it."

After months of aggressive enforcement, Trump's signature issue that twice got him elected is now turning into a liability ahead of this year's midterm elections.

The outcry over what many saw as militant tactics hit a fever pitch after the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by immigration officers in Minnesota.

A new NPR/Marist poll shows that six in 10 Americans disapprove of the job federal immigration agents are doing.

Even typically loyal Republican supporters have called on the Trump administration to make changes and rebuild trust with law enforcement.

"They, being the White House, need to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that that respect is going to be re-instilled," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told conservative radio host Mark Davis.

Trump shook up the leadership of the Minneapolis operation, and directed his team to withdraw 700 federal officers.

"I learned that, maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch," Trump said in an interview with NBC's Tom Llamas. "But you still have to be tough. We're dealing with really hard criminals."

It's a bit unclear what a "softer touch" actually means.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt largely defended the administration's enforcement efforts Thursday and pointed to different polling — from a Harvard/Harris survey — that she said showed support for their "deportation agenda."

"Nearly eight in 10 Americans say criminal illegal aliens should be deported," she said. "A solid majority also support deporting all illegal aliens, regardless of additional crimes."

She also said the administration is now prioritizing criminals who are in the country illegally.

Theresa Cardinal Brown, who worked on immigration policy under two presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said there may be an "operational pause" as the administration retools its efforts, both from a policy standpoint and a public relations standpoint.

"Operationally, you're not really thinking about politics as you're putting together an operation, said Brown, now a member of the Council on National Security and Immigration. "But politics comes into everything, right?"

She points to the announcement that body cameras would be deployed to federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, noting that while video can uncover when officers are doing something wrong, body cameras can also vindicate officers when they have done the right thing.

"I do think that probably the administration is thinking, 'Well, if we had body cam footage of our own, we could put our own perspective on it,' " she said.

Trump has a big incentive to get a handle on this crisis — and to do so quickly.

Conant, who previously worked on Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign, said Trump has left an opening for Democrats to sound more reasonable on immigration ahead of the midterms.

"If he loses the immigration issue as a political winner, it's a real political problem," Conant said, "not just for Trump, but Republicans more broadly."

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