The Brief

The Trump administration is shifting its tone on how it handles immigrants brought to the U.S. as children under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Also known as DACA, the program was created in 2012 to protect children who arrived in the country illegally prior to 2007 from deportation.

In recent months, the administration has tried to strip 525,000 DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, of benefits, although no regulatory changes have been made to end the program.

For example, the Health and Human Services Department said it would make DACA recipients ineligible for the federal healthcare marketplace in June. Then last week, the Education Department said it was looking into five universities that offer financial help for DACA recipients. Also, immigration enforcement officers have arrested and detained DACA recipients throughout the country, which immigrant advocates said weakens protections of this group.

"Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportations," DHS assistant press secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to NPR. "DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country."

McLaughlin added that any DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons, including if they've committed a crime. McLaughlin then urged recipients to self-deport.

"We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way," McLaughlin said.

The call for self-deportation of DACA recipients sends another mixed message in the administration's immigration enforcement policy. At the start of the 2024 presidential campaign, now-White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said President Trump would end the program. After winning the election, Trump said he wanted DACA recipients to stay.

"We've known that DACA remains a program that has been temporary. We've sounded the alarms over that," said Anabel Mendoza, communications director for United We Dream, an immigrant youth organization. "What we are seeing now is that DACA is being chipped away at."

What are DACA's protections?

DACA offers temporary protection from deportation but is not an immediate path to citizenship or a green card. Participants in the program have to renew their protection every two years.

It provides a work permit and can be adjusted if a person leaves the U.S. and comes back with a visa or marries a U.S. citizen, among other options.

When it was created under the Obama administration, the program took eligible children "out of the immigration enforcement system," said Claire McNulty, a former DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who worked at the department when DACA was created. McNulty was later politically appointed by former President Joe Biden to a senior counselor position in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

"If somebody was eligible for DACA, that might mean that they would be released from detention or their case in the immigration court system would be administratively closed so that they could then pursue that sort of administrative relief," McNulty said.

The roughly 500,000 DACA recipients — counted as of the second quarter of this year — are from more than 150 countries. The majority are from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, according to the USCIS. Most recipients are 35 years old or younger, but some are in their late 30s and early 40s.

So far there has been no effort by this second Trump administration to rescind the program, as Trump tried in his first term. A lawsuit filed by Texas is challenging the program's protections from deportations and work permits for participants in the state.

"The notion that it does not provide protection is simply false," said Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, adding that there are reasons DACA protections can be revoked from an individual, including being charged with a crime, which would make them vulnerable to deportation.

Other lawyers point to infractions like driving under the influence of alcohol as a reason DACA and its protections can be revoked.

Saenz said DACA should provide protection from being caught up in a raid by immigration agents or indiscriminately targeted for arrest on the street.

If the administration wanted to take steps to change that, it would need to submit a proposed rule change with the Federal Register, or at least publicly state that position, neither of which has been done, he said. But the administration, he said, appears to have a broader approach to immigration enforcement that's sweeping in DACA recipients.

"Reported arrests of DACA recipients has other DACA recipients very concerned and we've heard it from them," Saenz said.

Enforcement incidents lead to fear

In March, officials deported Evenezer Cortez Martinez, a DACA recipient in Missouri, to Mexico.

He was allowed to return after two weeks. In California, DACA recipients have been detained after a worksite raid and an accidental wrong turn off the freeway. In Florida, a DACA recipient was among the first held at the newly opened Everglades detention center.

"This administration is very strict on how they're applying all of the law and how they're interpreting all of the law. DACA at least used to be a topic that was much more sympathetic in politics," Mendoza said. "And that sympathy is now less and less."

Polls conducted over the last five years have shown most Americans support the creation of a legal pathway for DACA recipients. With respect to polling on Trump's immigration policies overall, 43% approve of his handling of the issue so far, according to the most recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll published earlier this month.

Reyna Montoya is the founder of Aliento, a nonprofit that supports DACA recipients and other immigrants, and is a DACA recipient herself. She has been involved with advocating for DACA since 2010. Now 34, she said she has spent most of her young adult life advocating for the program.

"It's been a roller coaster between the three branches of government," Montoya said, adding that the mixed messaging from the administration is adding to the fear. "My livelihood and the livelihood of so many Dreamers is at stake and that we could potentially be subject to being deported to countries that we don't really know or we don't call home."

Copyright 2025 NPR

The Senate voted overnight to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security after a 42-day standoff over immigration enforcement tactics.

The measure does not include additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol — and it does not include any of the demands Democrats made to limit the tactics of federal immigration officers.

The legislation now goes to the House for a vote.

The DHS funding lapse forced tens of thousands of employees to work without pay or quit, and resulted in long waits at some airports amid peak spring break travel.

For weeks, Democrats have refused to support funding for DHS after federal officers killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

The latest package allowed Democrats to fund operations like the Transportation Safety Administration, or TSA, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, while still pressing for additional guardrails on immigration enforcement officers.

"Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor. "I'm very proud of our Democratic caucus. Throughout it all, Senate Democrats stood united — no wavering, no backing down. We held the line."

But some Democrats have warned that a funding agreement without the policy changes they are seeking diminishes their leverage. Senate Republicans have indicated that the time to negotiate has now passed.

"We could be standing here right now passing a funding bill with a list of reforms if Democrats had made the smallest effort to actually reach an agreement, but they didn't," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the floor early Friday morning. "It is now clear to everyone that Democrats didn't actually want a solution, they wanted an issue."

The department has been operating without regular appropriations for more than a month. But some divisions, like ICE, have continued to function thanks to about $75 billion provided by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans passed last summer. Others, including the TSA, have relied on employees working without pay.

Ha Nguyen McNeill, the TSA acting administrator, told lawmakers at a hearing on Wednesday that absences are as high as 40% in some airports and more than 480 TSA officers have quit during the shutdown.

"We are really concerned about our security posture and what the long term impacts of this shutdown is going to have on the workforce and our ability to carry out this mission," McNeill said.

Negotiations under pressure

All week, top Republicans opposed funding DHS piecemeal. On Thursday, Thune said Republicans had delivered Democrats a final offer: fund all of DHS, including ICE, except the division responsible for enforcement and removal operations.

At least a handful of Democrats seemed open to this option, but worried the administration would use funding for other ICE divisions for enforcement and removal operations. Throughout the day, negotiators shuttled between the Senate chamber and Thune's office, trading language.

But by the evening, lawmakers were still struggling to reach an agreement to end the impasse, even as many viewed the worsening situation at the nation's airports as untenable.

Then, President Trump announced he would unilaterally move to declare a national emergency and pay TSA agents. It was not immediately clear where that money would come from – and whether such a move was legal.

Earlier in the week, Trump insisted that any DHS funding deal also include the voting law overhaul he wants ahead of the midterms, known as the Save America Act.

Not long after Trump's TSA announcement Thursday night, Thune told reporters about an agreement to fund most of DHS except for ICE and Border Patrol. The legislation was approved by voice vote after 2 a.m. with just a few members on the floor.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Thursday that House Republicans have not been in favor of breaking up the funding, calling it "shameful" to fail to fund the agency. It is unclear how the House will respond to the agreement.

Top Republicans have pledged to fund ICE through a party-line reconciliation bill that would include elements of the Trump-backed voting bill.

Such a package would not require buy-in from Democrats, but the effort is not a sure bet. It is unclear how much of the Save America Act could move through reconciliation, which can only be used for changes that directly affect the budget. And Republicans may also differ about what else should be included, such as additional funds for the war with Iran.

Congress is scheduled to leave Washington today for a two-week recess, meaning lawmakers will return next month to unresolved debates on two knotty issues: immigration enforcement tactics and voting procedures.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Happy Friday folks! A warmer weekend is on the horizon, with Saturday slated to be the warmest day.

Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast for today once those low clouds clear up. At the beaches, we're looking at warmer conditions with highs from 75 to 80 degrees, and up to the mid-80s for the inland coast.

For the valleys and inland areas, temperatures will hover around upper 80s to 92 degrees. Meanwhile Coachella Valley will break the 100 degree threshold today, with a high of 102 expected in some areas.

The L.A. County District Attorney alleges a former Los Angeles Unified information technology employee illegally helped a tech company win more than $22 million in district contracts. Prosecutors say the case is “one of the largest money laundering schemes” in the district’s history.

According to the complaint, between 2018 and 2022 Hong “Grace” Peng worked in LAUSD’s IT department and participated in the approval and recommendation of over $22 million in payments to Innive Inc. for services primarily related to the district’s student data system. In the same time period, prosecutors allege Innive CEO Gautham Sampath paid Peng over $3 million.

“This is the type of evidence that you just shake your head, like you can’t believe it,” said District Attorney Nathan Hochman in a recorded statement about the case.

Hochman presented multiple text messages where Peng and Sampath discussed Innive’s contracts with the district. In one, Peng said Sampath was “lucky” she was on a selection committee. When he asked why, she responded "Because you have me...lol...I broke all law for you already lol."

Peng declined to comment when reached by LAist.

Michael Kraut, an attorney for Sampath, said his client had no knowledge of how the contract was awarded.

 "There's been no wrongdoing in terms of not producing, or theft of this money, or embezzling this money," Kraut said. "This is a case in which my client and his company produced exactly what they were contracted to do in the high tech field for LAUSD and the software."

Kraut said the $3 million was related to other "long-term contractual issues" with Peng and had "nothing to do" with the LAUSD contract.

"The DA's office is going to realize that they have made a mistake in this matter and jumped the gun and in fact, there is no criminal intent or actions by my client or his company," he said.

How did the alleged conduct come to light?

According to the complaint, the district first became aware of the alleged scheme in 2022, when an LAUSD IT employee attended a conference and learned from a former colleague of a possible connection between Peng and Sampath. The district employee alerted a supervisor, who alerted the district's inspector general.

A district spokesperson sent LAist a statement Thursday saying staff will continue to participate in the investigation “as appropriate.”

“We will not comment further on the specifics of the case while legal proceedings are ongoing,” the statement read.

What happens now?

Prosecutors charged Sampath with felony counts related to money laundering, “having a financial interest in a contract or purchase made in an official capacity” and “aiding and abetting a government official to have a financial interest in a contract or purchase” made in an official capacity. Peng faces two felony counts — one related to money laundering and the other with “having a financial interest in a contract or purchase made in an official capacity.”

The court issued warrants for Peng and Sampath’s arrests and bail was set at $500,000 for each.

The Los Angeles Metro Board approved on Thursday the agency staff-recommended route of the K Line Northern extension with an amendment.

The amendment calls for additional study of tunneling under Mid-City to inform what that section of the train ends up looking like.

The amendment was billed as a compromise in a political push-and-pull that continued into early Thursday morning between unabashed supporters of the route, including the city of West Hollywood, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who has tried to appease persistent concerns over the project's impact on residents of the Lafayette Square neighborhood.

“ I am very optimistic, and I'm very pleased that we got to an agreement so that we can all move together jointly,” West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman said to LAist in an interview before the vote.

Metro staff, Horvath and Bass assured the public Thursday that the approved amendment won’t delay the project, including the city of West Hollywood and L.A. County’s joint plan to potentially front billions of dollars to kickstart the project without raising taxes.

“[The amendment] explicitly ensures that continued study, engagement and refinement in the Mid-City segment will proceed without scheduling, cost or job impacts,” Bass said about the amendment during the meeting.

The amendment was unanimously approved in an 11-0 vote. Metro Board Directors Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker and Holly Mitchell recused themselves since they own property in proximity to the proposed extension.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has championed the K Line Northern Extension.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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The low-down on the extension

The K Line currently runs from Redondo Beach to Crenshaw and stops at the LAX/Metro Transit Center. Earlier in March, Metro officials recommended a nearly 10-mile route for the train to continue north through Mid City and West Hollywood and terminate at the Hollywood Bowl.

The route would connect to the D Line in Wilshire and the B Line in Hollywood, closing a north-south gap that currently exists in Metro’s rail network. The extension would link to cultural hubs, including the Museum District and Hollywood Bowl, major employers such as Cedars Sinai Medical Center and queer nightlife along Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards.

According to Metro staff estimates, the route that was mostly approved today would serve the highest number of riders and reach the most residents and jobs compared to other alternatives studied.

You can read more about the specifics and the lead up to Thursday’s vote in our earlier coverage.

Didn’t Metro already study tunneling in Mid-City?

Lafayette Square residents have for years expressed fears over the effects of tunneling on property values, noise and vibration.

Based on the concerns, the Metro Board directed agency staff in October 2024 to do further analysis and community outreach. That work, which cost an additional $2.3 million, involved studying 12 different route options through Mid-City and concluded that tunneling will be deep enough to zero out any surface-level disruptions.

It’s unclear what the study prescribed by the amendment approved Thursday will materialize that hasn’t already been addressed.

Once fully built out, the K Line will run from the South Bay to Hollywood.

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L.A. Metro

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What happens now?

Thursday’s affirmative vote was necessary before the city of West Hollywood and L.A. County pursue a plan to capture a certain proportion of future property tax growth in a defined area near the project and funnel it towards construction. Critically, this plan wouldn’t involve raising taxes.

“Every time a property is redeveloped or sold, it adds to that increment, which adds to the amount of money that you can raise,” Eli Lipmen, head of transit advocacy group Move LA and supporter of the Metro-recommended route for the extension, said to LAist last week.

Now that the board green-lit the route, West Hollywood City Council and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors will pursue creating the district within which property tax growth could be captured.

The completion of that legislative work will trigger a 12- month clock to conduct the additional Mid-City tunneling study and finalize the route there.

It’s all about compromise

A draft version of the amendment that circulated earlier this week did not include the 12-month time cap on the additional analysis, which raised a red flag for the city of West Hollywood.

“If additional outreach and technical work must be done … it should be capped at a reasonable maximum duration to prevent further delays,” Heilman and City Councilmember Chelsea Byers wrote in a Wednesday letter to the Board.

Heilman said he worked through Wednesday night and into Thursday morning with Horvath and Metro and Bass’ staff toward the amendment that the Board approved.

Today’s vote isn’t final project approval, and it will return back to the Metro Board several more times before shovels hit the ground.

The projected cost of the train is fluid until the Mid-City section is finalized. However, earlier estimates had the staff-recommended route for the train extension coming in at around $15 billion. Measure M, the half-cent sales tax county voters approved a decade ago, includes more than $2 billion for the project.

Those funds won’t be available until the 2040s, but the financing plan that West Hollywood and the county are pursuing could expedite the release of that money and construction.

The current Metro K Line train opened to the public on October 7, 2022.

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K Line Northern Extension elicited historic feedback from community

Public officials said the K Line Northern extension was an extraordinary display of community passion and pressure.

Inglewood Mayor James Butts, who sits on the Metro Board and was listed as a co-author on the draft amendment, said he received “767 emails from West Hollywood.”

“I applaud you,” Butts said during the meeting. “You guys are the strongest advocacy group I’ve seen in 54 years of municipal service.”