Topline:
Containment of the massive Palisades Fire increased to 63% Tuesday as red flag conditions are expected to return.
Where things stand: The fire continues to spread across the Santa Monica Mountains, growing to more than 23,700 acres, according to CalFire.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Containment of the massive Palisades Fire increased to 63% Tuesday as red flag conditions are expected to return.
The death toll in the fire that devastated whole neighborhoods rose Tuesday to 11 people. Authorities continue to search the ruins with cadaver dogs.
As of Wednesday morning, sheriff's officials said in areas they patrol they are still investigating six missing people reports in the Palisades Fire.
LAPD officials said they've investigated 38 reports of missing people in the Palisades Fire, and 30 have been found safe. Authorities said they believe that of the eight still missing, three are "most likely" among the dead who have not yet been positively identified and five remain missing.
Roughly 5,000 structures are estimated to have been destroyed, about 700 damaged.
The Sheriff's Department said Thursday afternoon that some evacuation zones will be reopened to residents effective noon on Thursday, Jan. 16.
The following zones will be reopened to residents:
"Resident access will be through the intersections of Mulholland Highway/Old Topanga Canyon Road, Civic Center Way/Malibu Canyon Road, and Mulholland Drive/Topanga Canyon Road," according to the LASD update.
On Friday, some areas under evacuation orders were open for residents.
Orders reduced to warnings:
Areas reopened to only residents:
The sheriff's department said evacuees should have proof of residency when they try to re-enter and that only residents are currently allowed back in.
Here's what to know about returning home after a fire evacuation.
We have some respite from fire weather conditions through Saturday.
This week, L.A. Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the area, told LAist 89.3's AirTalk program that officials will be asking "some very hard questions about what happens and what we are going to do to ensure that something like this never happens again."
"Because frankly," she added, "much of what occurred — even though this was an unusual weather event — what's predictable? The Pacific Palisades is in the very high fire severity zone."
Firefighters have been injured, as have a significant number of residents who didn't evacuate in time, according to authorities. That's in addition to at least 11 reported deaths.
After days of 0% containment, that number moved to 6% a week ago. Last Friday, it was at 22%.
We should note that the estimate of more than 5,000 structures damaged or destroyed is still preliminary and could change. The case is the same for the number of deaths — it takes time to identify remains and L.A. County Fire Department noted there have been more than a dozen missing person reports in their jurisdictions in both the Eaton and Palisades fires.
CalFire also cautioned against believing inaccurate social media posts. One claimed that people can come to California to join clean up efforts, but authorities warned this is false.
L.A. County's medical examiner has confirmed 11 deaths in the Palisades Fire. One victim, Charles Mortimer, 84, died at a hospital.
Officials are mapping where homes and businesses have been lost.
Curfews are now in place for fire areas from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice.
The L.A. County Sheriff's department said they have made at least 22 arrests for people violating those curfews in the Palisades and Eaton fire areas, mostly on suspicion of looting.
Authorities warn that anyone who violates the curfew is subject to arrest for a misdemeanor offense, and may face jail time, fines, or both, officials said.
" All these individuals were not supposed to be there, meaning they had no business being there ," said LA County Sheriff Robert Luna at a press conference Saturday morning. "You go out there and you violate this curfew, you are going to spend time in jail. You're not going to get cited and released."
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency Tuesday night. Newsom also proclaimed a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Tuesday after meeting with fire officials in Pacific Palisades.
President Joe Biden approved a Presidential Major Emergency Declaration on Wednesday to support the response to the wildfires. He said on social media that he’s directed the Department of Defense to provide additional personnel, and ten Navy helicopters with water buckets are on the way.
Driven by strong winds, it turned into a nightmare scenario that many hoped would never come to pass: an unstoppable fire tearing through densely packed coastal neighborhoods positioned between steep mountains and the Pacific Ocean, with few ways in and out.
While the full extent of the damage is not yet known, it's clear that the storied coastal stretch of Pacific Coast Highway between Santa Monica and Malibu will never be the same. Long standing businesses, including the Reel Inn, a seafood restaurant located across the street from Topanga State Beach, have been destroyed.
The fire was reported around 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday and immediately began heading toward the community of Pacific Palisades, driven by 70 mph wind gusts. The fire grew from 10 acres to 200 acres in just minutes.
During the early hours of evacuations, some residents fleeing the fire were told by officers to abandon their cars and walk to safety.
Many were seen holding bags and pets as they made their way towards the ocean. Abandoned vehicles were then bulldozed to make room for emergency vehicles.
Total destruction in Malibu. These were beachfront homes on Pacific Coast Highway. #palisadesfire pic.twitter.com/DhQnJMmoUW
— Liz Kreutz (@LizKreutzNews) January 8, 2025
Evacuation zones are changing fast, so check out the most up to date, interactive map here.
Authorities on Tuesday announced certain areas would open for repopulation:
LA County Sheriff's Eaton Fire Update for Tuesday, January 21st, 2025: Repopulation and Safety Guidelines
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) January 21, 2025
LASD announced evacuation warnings have been lifted for the following evacuation zone communities impacted by the Eaton Fire, effective 12:00 P.M. on Tuesday, January 21st,… pic.twitter.com/ArKB0lIkfh
Officials are pleading with people to avoid the wildfire areas, especially if you don’t live there.
Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Rec Center, 14201 Huston St., Sherman Oaks
Lanark Recreation Center, 21816 Lanark St, Canoga Park
Westwood Recreation Center: 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd. (accepts small animals)
Pasadena Convention Center: 300 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91101
El Camino Real Charter High School: 5440 Valley Circle Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Pierce College: 6201 Winnetka Ave. Woodland Hills, CA 91371 (accepts large animals)
Los Angeles Equestrian Center: 480 Riverside Dr, Burbank, CA 91506 (accepts large animals)
Agoura Animal Shelter: 29525 Agoura Rd, Agoura Hills, CA 91301 (accepts small animals)
Santa Monica-Malibu USD has been closed since Thursday.
"We watch with all of you in disbelief the devastation and displacement caused by the Palisades fire, which continues to grow and evade containment," Superintendent Antonio Shelton wrote in a statement.
Nearly two dozen school districts are totally closed due to the wildfires — you can find a full list here.
The Los Angeles Unified School District also closed Thursday.
Palisades Charter Elementary School and Marquez Charter Elementary School were destroyed by the fire, an LAUSD spokesperson confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said that Palisades High suffered significant damage due to the fire.
Many roads in the area are closed or restricted, including long stretched of Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Road. For the most recent information, check out Sigalert.com or this Los Angeles County Public Works map.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power replaced its boil water notice with a "Do Not Drink Notice" for the Palisades-area 90272 ZIP code and the area north of San Vicente Blvd. That means people in those areas should not drink or cook with tap water until the notice is lifted. Residents are still advised to limit water use to assist with firefighting efforts.
L.A. County Water Works District 29 has also issued a boil water advisory, according to L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. This includes the Sunset Mesa community from Topanga Beach and Coastline Drive, to Shore Heights Drive, and from Topanga Canyon Road to Carbon Canyon Road in Malibu. You can call (800) 475-4357 for more information.
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If you have to evacuate
If you have more time:
Things to consider
Navigating fire conditions
How to help yourself and others
Understanding how it got this bad
Topline:
Los Angeles Unified School District’s cellphone ban turns 1 today.
Flashback: The state’s largest district announced a “bell to bell” cellphone and social media ban in June 2024, which expanded the district’s existing phone ban to include lunch and passing periods.
How it started: Over the first semester, we heard from educators and students who had mixed opinions. Some teachers reported positive results, while others said that passing periods remained a challenge. Some students found the ban stifled their ability to get important things done, and some also said their screentime stayed the same or increased while at home. We made a whole episode of our Imperfect Paradise podcast about it:
What we don’t know: Since LAUSD’s proposal went into effect, other districts have also rolled out changes to cellphone policies in advance of a July 2026 state deadline. The long-term effects are unclear, although more researchers are investigating.
How’s it going? You tell us! Has it improved your educational experience? (Whether you’re a teacher, student, parent or caregiver.) Here’s a quick survey you can use to share your thoughts.
Los Angeles Unified School District’s cell phone ban turns 1 year old today.
The state’s largest district announced a “bell to bell” cellphone and social media ban in June 2024, which expanded the district’s existing phone ban to include lunch and passing periods. The policy took effect Feb. 18, 2025. District officials cited rising concerns about the effects of phones and social media on youth mental health, bullying and distraction from classroom instruction.
Over the first semester, we heard from educators and students who had mixed opinions. Some teachers reported positive results, while others said that passing periods remained a challenge. Some students found the ban stifled their ability to get important things done, and some also said their screentime stayed the same or increased while at home. We made a whole episode of our Imperfect Paradise podcast about it:
Since LAUSD’s proposal went into effect, other districts have also rolled out changes to cellphone policies in advance of a July 2026 state deadline. The long-term effects are unclear, although more researchers are investigating.
You tell us! Has it improved your educational experience? (Whether you’re a teacher, student, parent or caregiver.) Here’s a quick survey you can use to share your thoughts.
Topline:
Los Angeles remains on shaky financial ground with increased liability costs, overspending by city departments and revenue shortfalls forcing it to dip into its reserves, according to a financial report released Wednesday.
The details: The annual report for the fiscal year that ended in June, from L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia, said the culmination of decades of “unstable budgeting,” is seen and felt by Angelenos across the city “in crumbling infrastructure and deteriorating services,”
Jobs eliminated: Additionally, short-term budget balancing over the past two years resulted in unpaid furlough days for city employees and the elimination of thousands of unfilled positions.
Liability spending: The top area of overspending continued to be liability payments. Liability claims exceeded the budget by $199 million or 228%, totaling a record of $287 million for the year. The top three areas include police at $152 million, street services at $44 million and transportation at $20 million.
Los Angeles remains on shaky financial ground with increased liability costs, overspending by city departments and revenue shortfalls forcing it to dip into its reserves, according to a financial report released Wednesday.
The annual report for the fiscal year that ended in June, from Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia, said the culmination of decades of “unstable budgeting” is seen and felt by Angelenos across the city “in crumbling infrastructure and deteriorating services.”
Additionally, short-term budget balancing over the past two years resulted in unpaid furlough days for city employees and the elimination of thousands of unfilled positions.
“The service impacts of those cuts are still hitting departments as they struggle to address growing needs with severely diminished capacities,” the report read.
Here are some of the major points made in the report:
The controller issued a series of recommendations, including shifting to a two-year instead of one-year budgeting process, more realistic revenue projections, and more revenue generation by growing the tax base (for example: implementing a vacancy tax or taxing rideshare/autonomous vehicles, not just raising the sales tax).
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, a member of the city’s Budget and Finance Committee, said in the report that the city can’t keep relying on short-term fixes, while “structural deficits,” like ongoing budget shortfalls, grow.
She added that “years of draining reserves, soaring liability payouts, and underinvestment in infrastructure have left us in a perilous financial position that our communities are now forced to absorb.”
“We need transparent, multi-year budgeting rooted in long-term planning and fiscal responsibility,” Hernandez said.
Mejia said that although the city is halfway through its fiscal year, it continues to have general fund budget challenges.
“The current fiscal year’s budget assumes moderate revenue growth, however, the long-term impact of current economic activities on revenue growth remains unknown and revenue has been stable during the first half of the year.”
In addition to providing a financial picture, the report provided a demographic look at the city. L.A.’s population is 3.84 million, the average age is 37.5, the total school enrollment is 409,108 and the unemployment rate is 6%.
The city employs more than 50,000 workers, the metro L.A.’s GDP is $1.3 trillion (among the top 20 economies in the world), and LAX has 75 million passengers a year.
Topline:
Erroneous and politically charged statements by Trump administration officials, as well as the district attorney for San Bernardino County, have complicated the prosecution of a truck driver charged with vehicular manslaughter in a crash on the 10 Freeway last year.
Statements by federal officials have ended up in court documents where attorneys representing the defendant argue the driver's prosecution has been tainted by anti-immigrant bias.
What they said: Statements by the Department of Homeland Security labeled the driver a “criminal illegal alien” who was driving under the influence. The driver was seeking asylum and authorized to work in the U.S. by the federal government. Toxicology tests taken after the crash came back negative for all substances.
Racial Justice Act claims: A public defender has argued that the driver has faced multiple violations of the California Racial Justice Act, a law passed in 2020 that prohibits state authorities from seeking convictions or imposing sentences based on race, ethnicity or national origin.
Why it matters: It’s the latest in a series of instances where federal officials have injected politics into developing events. Arjun Sethi, a racial justice advocate, civil rights lawyer and adjunct professor at Georgetown University said these statements have compromised Singh’s ability to receive a fair trial.
Read on ... for how local officials' statements have factored into the case.
Erroneous and politically charged statements by Trump administration officials, as well as the district attorney for San Bernardino County, have complicated the prosecution of a truck driver charged with vehicular manslaughter in a crash on the 10 Freeway last year.
The statements highlighted the national origin of the driver, 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh, who was born in India, contained false information on his immigration status and made unfounded allegations that he was driving under the influence.
It’s the latest in a series of instances where federal officials have injected politics into developing events. In some cases, statements by federal officials later turn out to be false and detrimental to prosecutions, as the New York Times recently found in at least four instances. Here in Southern California, statements by federal officials have ended up in court documents where Singh’s defense argues his prosecution has been tainted by anti-immigrant bias.
Statements by the Department of Homeland Security labeled Singh a “criminal illegal alien” who was driving under the influence. Singh was seeking asylum and authorized to work in the U.S. by the federal government. Toxicology tests taken after the crash came back negative for all substances.
“It is a terrible tragedy three innocent people lost their lives due to the reckless open border policies that allowed an illegal alien to be released into the U.S. and drive an 18-wheeler on America’s highways,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an Oct. 23 statement.
Arjun Sethi, a racial justice advocate, civil rights lawyer and adjunct professor at Georgetown University said these statements have compromised Singh’s ability to receive a fair trial.
“When you think of the variety of federal statements in this case, you see blatant racial and xenophobic rhetoric that is highly prejudicial,” Sethi said. “How can any juror set aside that rhetoric … and be able to ascertain the truth?”
Public defenders representing Singh argue similar statements by San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson, a deputy in Anderson’s office and the California Highway Patrol violate California's Racial Justice Act, a 2020 law prohibiting prosecutions influenced by racial bias.
Hearings on the Racial Justice Act claims will continue March 10. Singh's trial will commence after a judge rules on those claims. Singh has pleaded not guilty to the felony charges against him.
“I think authorities made statements infused by racial bias in this case,” Sethi, who has served as an expert in Racial Justice Act litigation, told LAist. “Bottom line, California authorities in this case mirror the racist political rhetoric we are hearing from the federal government.”
Six months before the crash that led to the charges against Singh, President Donald Trump took steps to restrict states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants.
The U.S. Department of Transportation issued new emergency regulations in September that CalMatters reported could revoke the licenses of up to 61,000 immigrant truck drivers, amounting to 8% of the total commercial licenses in the state.
The department gave California 30 days to come into compliance with these new rules or risk losing millions of dollars in federal highway funds.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office disputed the Trump administration's claims, arguing that California’s licensed truck drivers had a lower fatal crash rate than the national average.
Then, in the early afternoon of Oct. 21, Singh’s semi-truck crashed on a crowded interstate.
Dashboard camera footage shows his truck colliding with passenger vehicles and another truck as one car went up in flames.
Singh was arrested and held without bail. Prosecutors charged him with vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving.
He was initially charged with driving under the influence, but the district attorney dropped those charges after toxicology reports came back negative for all substances.
As a deputy district attorney said in a filing, the crash immediately “generated high media interest and touched off a federal and state official-driven debate surrounding immigration policy and the state's issuance of commercial driver's licenses.”
Two days after the crash, the Department of Homeland Security published a news release arguing Singh, an asylum seeker, entered the country illegally in 2022 “and was RELEASED into the country under the Biden administration.”
DHS officials have not responded to LAist’s requests for comment. McLaughlin will reportedly leave the agency soon.
🚨 @ICEgov lodged an arrest detainer for Jashanpreet Singh, a criminal illegal alien from India, who took the lives of 3 individuals in a horrific DUI accident in San Bernadino County, California.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 23, 2025
Singh first entered the U.S. in 2022 through the southern border and was RELEASED… pic.twitter.com/v5jtvwwuOo
The U.S. Department of Transportation also issued a news release on Singh’s crash and California’s compliance with the new licensing rules. The release stated that Singh was operating his truck under the influence of drugs, despite a lack of evidence to support that claim.
In an email to LAist, a Department of Transportation spokesperson said California issued Singh’s Commercial Drivers License without properly vetting his qualifications.
Newsom’s press office directed LAist to the California Transportation Agency, which has yet to respond to emailed questions.
But in an earlier statement on social media, Newsom’s office stated that the federal government approved and renewed Singh’s federal employment authorization multiple times, and it was that approval that allowed him to obtain a commercial driver’s license in California.
This is tragic, and as with every tragedy over the last ten months, Secretary Noem has ordered Secretary Duffy to look for every opportunity to manipulate the facts to score cheap political points.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 23, 2025
But the facts remain:
- The state does not determine commercial driver’s… https://t.co/x465iNU6Am
Public defender Jason Tucker argued in an Oct. 31 filing that Singh, his client, has faced multiple violations of the California Racial Justice Act, a law passed in 2020 that prohibits state authorities from seeking convictions or imposing sentences based on race, ethnicity or national origin.
Tucker has not responded to an emailed request for comment.
The filing highlights a motion to increase bail written by a California Highway Patrol officer shortly after the crash that claimed Singh was subject to deportation, despite being an asylum seeker who was authorized to work in the U.S. by the federal government, and a comment by a deputy district attorney about Singh’s use of an interpreter in court.
The primary violation, according to Tucker’s filing, occurred Oct. 23, when Anderson, the district attorney, issued a news release that tied the crash to state and federal policy.
“Had the rule of law been followed by state and federal officials the defendant should have never been in California at all,” Anderson’s statement said, before adding that Anderson’s office would “aggressively prosecute” the case.
According to the defense, this statement “injected Mr. Singh’s national origin, by way of his immigration status, into the criminal justice proceedings, despite evidence to the contrary.”
Deputy District Attorney Phillip Stemler, argued in a Nov. 10 court filing that the statements made by the office focus on policy without referencing or disparaging Singh’s identity, do not contain discriminatory language and do not meet the standards of a Racial Justice Act violation. Further, the district attorney is protected by the First Amendment, giving him latitude to speak on policy matters, according to the filing.
Stemler’s response stated that the Oct. 21 crash that killed three people and injured several others in Ontario “touched off a debate” about immigration and truck driving but that it was not Anderson’s office who politicized the case.
“It was federal officials who injected defendant’s immigration status into the media narrative on the defendant’s case,” reads the filing by Stemler, the Racial Justice Act coordinator for the office.
First, the filing references an Oct. 22 social media post by Duffy stating that his department was withholding $40 million from California because the state did not comply with the new federal rules.
“The following day, federal officials ramped up further,” the filing reads, pointing to the Oct. 23 DHS press release on the crash that referred to Singh as a “criminal illegal alien from India.”
Stemler’s filing says that the California Racial Justice Act does not apply to federal officials.
Sethi, the civil rights lawyer, said the statements by federal officials nevertheless compromise Singh’s ability to receive a fair trial.
“Long before Mr. Singh ever sets foot in a courtroom, there is a long shadow of political theater and xenophobic rhetoric that will be cast over him,” Sethi said, “and his case that is the fault of state and federal officials.”
Topline:
With fear keeping some immigrant families inside, a program to bring groceries directly to their doors is seeking to expand.
The backstory: Grocery deliveries are being organized by a Koreatown church has seen a decline in attendance at its regular food distribution program in recent months. At the request of church leadership, The LA Local is not naming the church or its congregants out of privacy concerns and to avoid drawing attention to their immigrant community. It’s just one of a network of faith-based organizations responding to the need, and as raids show no signs of slowing down anytime soon, the group is seeking to expand its delivery hubs to more church sites.
Immigration concerns: “There are members of our congregation that have immigration concerns that have told me they’re afraid to go out,” the pastor of the Koreatown church said. “I’ve spoken to at least four different families that are just afraid to go get groceries, are afraid to take their kids or their grandkids to school, and are worried about ICE activity in the neighborhood that’s been happening over the past seven months or so.”
Read on... for more about how this church is looking for more support.
Mara Harris loads a box of produce into her car, along with canned food and boxed goods. It marks the second week in a row she will drive the groceries to families across Los Angeles who say immigration raids are keeping them inside their homes.
“I got involved because I live in Highland Park, which is a primarily Latinx neighborhood, and I was feeling really frustrated and angry about our neighbors being unfairly treated,” Harris said.
Harris is a member of Nefesh, a Jewish outreach community that has partnered with local faith leaders to deliver goods. Her role is straightforward: pick up the groceries, drive them to families who have requested help, and drop them off.
“My husband is an immigrant,” she said. “I just think about the anxiety that we have going through the process, even with the resources we have access to, and I think about how impossible it is for other people to navigate that.”
She added, “It’s just chance that some people were born in countries that are safe and that provide them with opportunities, and other people are not. And I think the U.S. has an obligation to extend that opportunity to those people.”
The grocery deliveries are being organized by a Koreatown church that has seen a decline in attendance at its regular food distribution program in recent months. At the request of church leadership, The LA Local is not naming the church or its congregants out of privacy concerns and to avoid drawing attention to their immigrant community. It’s just one of a network of faith-based organizations responding to the need, and as raids show no signs of slowing down anytime soon, the group is seeking to expand its delivery hubs to more church sites.
Before the recent enforcement activity, the Koreatown church’s regular food distribution served between 500 and 600 people, according to one church organizer. In early February, they saw around 350.
“People are afraid, and unfortunately don’t know about services like this,” she said.
Multiple families have said they’re just too afraid to go out into the neighborhood, according to church leadership.
Since last summer, federal agents have carried out workplace raids, targeted day labor sites and arrested people in public spaces across the region. The Department of Homeland Security reported in December that more than 10,000 people had been detained in the LA area since June.
“There are members of our congregation that have immigration concerns that have told me they’re afraid to go out,” the pastor of the Koreatown church said. “I’ve spoken to at least four different families that are just afraid to go get groceries, are afraid to take their kids or their grandkids to school, and are worried about ICE activity in the neighborhood that’s been happening over the past seven months or so.”
Call Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice at (213) 481-3740 for information about grocery delivery.
In response, the church began coordinating home grocery deliveries in partnership with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, or CLUE. The partnership started last summer after church staff noticed a drop in attendance at their weekly food distributions.
“A lot of people were afraid to go to the food bank at (the church), so they saw a big decline and understood that it was because people were afraid to come out, so CLUE partnered with them to do this delivery service,” said Liz Bar-El, a community liaison for CLUE.
Another staff member who has worked at the Koreatown church for six years said operations have been directly affected by enforcement activity in the area.
“I’ve been doing this for about six years. Last week, we had to stop at 11 a.m., and we used to close at 12, 12:30 because the ICE agents were around here,” he said. “And the number of people is decreasing because of ICE raids.”
The church pastor said families do not simply call and request food; there is a screening system to ensure that the program reaches those who are most concerned about leaving their homes.
CLUE has “folks that help call through the list of people that requested it to confirm for the day of their deliveries. They also have somebody that does a screening process to make sure that the people that are getting the deliveries qualify for the parameters of the program so that they’re not just getting people who are like ‘Yeah, you can deliver food to me’ but rather are really concerned about their status,” he said.
But Bar-El, the organizer with CLUE, said identifying families can be difficult.
“It’s likely due to fear of trusting somebody, they are hiding in their homes,” she said. “One way to reach them is through their pastors and the rapid response network that CLUE is a part of.”
Many of the requests stem from sudden changes in a family’s circumstances.
“This current situation with grocery delivery is mostly people who need help getting food because somebody got detained, deported and or the main breadwinner lost their job,” Bar-El said. “In one case, the husband was recently bonded out, and the wife was left home with three very small children.”
For Harris, the volunteer delivering food across multiple neighborhoods, the work is personal. She often thinks about her own family’s immigration status.
“My husband is British and he’s been working here off work visas for six years. He just applied for a non-conditional green card last year. So I take our anxiety and worries and extrapolate it,” she said.
Organizers don’t expect the need for this service to ease anytime soon. Bar-El said they plan to expand the effort to another church in Hollywood and are seeking more volunteers.
“I believe it’s my responsibility as someone who is one of the lucky ones and who does have resources and privilege to do what I can for my neighbors and for my city that I love that is so diverse and wonderful,” Harris said.
