The Brief

In the summer of 2008, Carlos Aguilar put on a purple cap and gown and headed out for what should have been an entirely joyous occasion.

With a 4.0 GPA, he was salutatorian of his class at Bell High School — no small feat for someone who’d come to the U.S. in ninth grade, without speaking English. Aguilar was also an aspiring director, and he’d been admitted to the top-ranked school of film/video at CalArts. In spite of these accomplishments, his graduation ceremony was bittersweet.

Aguilar’s aunt and cousins were there to support him, but his brother and his parents were in Mexico City, about 2,000 miles away.

When he looked to the future, he felt disheartened. Aguilar is an undocumented immigrant and, at the time, he didn’t qualify for federal or state financial aid. It was up to him to cover his college expenses, and he couldn’t afford to pay for any university.

“I don't think anyone could have given me any word of encouragement,” he said.

Today, Aguilar is a respected member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. And when he looks back on his career, he can say that: “Every little thing I did eventually opened the door for something else.”

But, for several years, Aguilar was an exhausted undocumented film student, helping his coworkers clean out the fryer during the night shift. For a long time, he said, “I was unclear as to what the future held, and I was not feeling particularly positive about it.”

“When you're in that moment,” he added, “you have a lot of doubt, and you don't really know what's the right choice.”

Aguilar didn’t know it then, but he would soon be en route to becoming a prolific film critic, with bylines in outlets like Rolling Stone, Variety, and the New York Times.

That journey was nourished by his upbringing in Mexico City and Southeast L.A., then propelled by a film production program at Pasadena City College.

A year of free movies

Aguilar’s childhood was marked by books and movies. He grew up in the Gustavo A. Madero borough of Mexico City, a working class neighborhood that’s home to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where millions of people flock every year to pay their respects. Aguilar said he was never among the faithful.

Money was tight, he told LAist, but there were always secondhand books in the family’s studio apartment. His mom, Esther Arriaga, is an avid reader, and she instilled a love of books in her son.

At school, Aguilar read voraciously and drew the attention of Maestra Alejandra, a substitute teacher and librarian. She encouraged Aguilar to sign up for writing and oratory contests, which bolstered his confidence in his ability. In fifth grade, his classroom teacher encouraged him to write a play. Aguilar did so. Then, with the help of his classmates, he brought it to life.

“It was always in me to write stories, to create things,” he said. The play, he recalled, was about a man whose boat capsized. The man survived the tragedy, only to find himself on an island that was run by rats.

“It was silly and weird,” he said. Aguilar and his classmates used sawdust to create an island in the middle of the classroom, and all but one of them dressed up as a rodent. Looking back, he’s amazed that he was given the time and space to put on the show.

At home, he and his little brother, Daniel, put on similar performances, complete with costumes, voice changes, and music. In place of supporting actors, they used stuffed animals.

“A lot of people who are into film or who eventually become filmmakers [tend to] have all these memories of, like, ‘When I was a kid, my dad gave me a camera, and we made these movies,’” he said. “This was our version of that. We didn't have a camera — we didn't know anyone who had a camera.”

Aguilar with his grandmother, Cruz Ortiz, and his little brother, Daniel, at Tezozomoc elementary school in Mexico City in 1996.

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Courtesy of the Aguilar family

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Aguilar’s parents couldn’t afford luxuries like video games, so when it was his birthday or when he got good grades, he was often treated to a film. By middle school, he was in love. Anytime he managed to save up a few pesos, he added to his bootleg DVD collection. On Fridays, he plopped down to watch a local critic review upcoming films on TV.

On one of those Fridays, the critic reviewed Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, a French romantic comedy centered around a shy, quirky waitress.

The critic “praised the movie as something very unique,” Aguilar said.

Until middle school, Aguilar had mostly watched animated films and Hollywood blockbusters. “Amélie,” he said, had “a different sensibility.” He began to think of cinema as “an art form that could do something different.”

During one of his many trips to the movies, Aguilar stumbled on a contest: If he guessed the winners of the five most popular Oscar categories (best picture, best actor, etc.) that spring, he could get a year of free movies.

Because he was under 18, Aguilar gave the answers to his mom and asked her to submit the entry. They won and, for 365 days, they had unlimited access to every Cinépolis branch in the city.

Sometimes he used the pass multiple times a day, at different theaters. And he routinely made the trek to Cinépolis Diana, to see art house films.

“There were times when I had seen everything that was playing,” he said.

More movies, and rats

After his year of free movies, Aguilar immigrated to the U.S. alone. An aunt in the city of Cudahy offered to take him in. Aguilar was 13. He started at Crenshaw High School in South L.A. a week later.

“I remember being scared,” he told LAist. At the same time, he added, “I didn't realize the scope of what it meant ... being an immigrant in this country, leaving your family behind, not being able to return.”

“There was not a lot of time for me to, like, even process it,” he said. “And maybe that was for the best, you know? Maybe there was less time to be sad.”

Always a star student in Mexico City, Aguilar suddenly found himself struggling to communicate in L.A. He pushed himself to learn English quickly. He signed up for extra tutoring after school and enrolled at Bell High School as a 10th grader.

“Eventually, I started making friends and got over my fear of speaking English,” he added. And, eventually, Cudahy, Bell, and the rest of Southeast L.A. became home. He and his friends frequented single-screen theaters on Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park.

Those theaters were not pretty, he told LAist. But they were cheap, perfect for teenagers on a budget.

“Me and my friends had a joke that, the moment you walked in, they would give you a bucket and a stick. And the more rats you killed, the more popcorn you got,” he said on the Órale Boyle Heights podcast.

In 11th grade, Aguilar joined an afterschool filmmaking program sponsored by CalArts. It gave students access to MiniDV Camcorders. For Aguilar, that was significant: It was the first time he got to work with a video camera.

With the help of his classmates, Aguilar made music videos with a little animation, along with short films. He entered small, local film festivals and won some awards.

“It was very validating to me that these shorts I was making, without any sort of prior knowledge, were being recognized,” he said. Even so, he had no intention of applying to film school.

“I didn't want to have to explain my situation as an undocumented person,” Aguilar said.

'An absurd dream'

In 2001, California lawmakers signed Assembly Bill 540 into law, giving undocumented students access to in-state tuition. Aguilar had a job at a fast food restaurant in Huntington Park. He resolved to pay his way through as much college as possible.

He researched film production programs at local community colleges. A few months after graduating high school, he enrolled at Pasadena City College.

Doing so allowed him “to hold on to the dream of studying filmmaking, even though it was kind of an absurd dream,” he said.

For Aguilar, going to community college was also about taking back some agency. “Being undocumented, you don't have control over a lot of things in your life,” he added.

Because he worked full-time while going to school, it took Aguilar about four years to complete his community college coursework. During those years, he took a bus from Atlantic and Florence in Cudahy, all the way to Colorado and Fairfax in Pasadena. Then, he took another bus to campus. After school, he boarded another bus to his restaurant job. He did homework in transit.

Pasadena City College was the first time Aguilar wasn’t surrounded by people of Latin American descent. His classmates were friendly, he said, but he always kept a certain distance.

“Anyone that's undocumented can understand the hesitation that you have in sharing that part of you,” he said.

It was also tough to make friends at a campus where most students are commuters. But, with time, he became part of a close-knit group of film students, and he reveled in the chance to be among people who shared his interests.

He learned about the Criterion Collection. He learned terms to describe what’s going on in a movie. He had the chance to continue working on shorts. (When he looks at them now, he sometimes cringes, he said. “But, at the time, I was very proud.”)

In the spring of 2012, Aguilar started getting close to completing his required coursework. “I was very much depressed and adrift,” he said. “I didn't know what I would do. Finishing community college was kind of like the end of the line.”

At that point, Aguilar had been working at the fast food restaurant for years. Part of him feared he’d work there forever.

In August 2012, Aguilar started a blog to write about movies called “Selective Vision.”

“I would go to the movies by myself or with friends and pay for my ticket. And then I’d go back home and write a review for no one, because no one was reading that — not even my friends,” he said.

“I don't know what was the driving force that kept me doing these things,” he told LAist. “I didn't know that it could become something ... There was really no clear sign that it could work out, or that I would be able to make a living doing anything related to film.”

While scrolling through Craigslist one day, Aguilar spotted an ad for a film writing gig. He submitted his blog posts as writing samples and landed the job. It didn’t pay anything, but it opened the door to screenings before films were released. Aguilar had never had his name on a list.

After that, Aguilar landed a job at another website, this time based in Iceland. That, too, was unpaid.

“I’m definitely not gonna sit here and advocate for people to do unpaid work,” he said. But it was through that unpaid labor that he got invited to screenings and access to an editor. He also started to become better-known in the industry. “I made a little bit of a name for myself writing for these tiny websites,” Aguilar added.

When the U.S. began accepting applications for DACA in 2012, Aguilar wasted no time. With a writing portfolio and the ability to work legally, he landed a job at IndieWire.

Aguilar used his IndieWire clips to apply for the Roger Ebert fellowship, and, in 2014, he became one of six young film critics selected for the program.

That winter, they flew out to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. The experience, Aguilar said, was “almost like a film critic quinceañera.”

The experience was a turning point, he said. After the trip, “it really felt like I should dedicate more time to [criticism] and see what became of it.”

Aguilar at the 95th Academy Awards. "There's power in accessing those elite spaces," he wrote for Variety in 2020. "In stepping on the red carpet at the Oscars, I was in disbelief and thought of myself and the countless young men and women who, like me, have only seen these moments as unattainable dreams."

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Courtesy of Carlos Aguilar

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The road ahead

Aguilar knows some things are out of his hands. As a DACA recipient, for instance, he can only travel if he’s granted advance parole, and he isn’t guaranteed re-entry. And last year, a federal judge ruled that DACA is unlawful. The ruling blocks new, first-time applications. Current recipients, like Aguilar, can continue to renew their work authorizations. Still, there’s still no clear path on how to create a legal framework for those who are currently protected under the program.

Since migrating to L.A. County in the early 2000s, Aguilar hasn’t returned to the place he once called home. Like the faithful who visit the basilica each year, he’d like to make a pilgrimage to Mexico City. He’d like to reconnect with old friends. Pay his respects at the sites where his grandmothers and father have been laid to rest. Walk around and see what’s changed over time.

And then he wants to go to other places. As an ardent Studio Ghibli fan, Aguilar would someday like to visit Japan. He’d also love to take his mom to France. She really liked Amélie, too.

Updated March 31, 2026 at 20:14 PM ET

President Trump said on Tuesday that the United States will be leaving Iran very soon, giving a two to three week timetable.

Trump's remarks came in response to a question about gas prices — which earlier Tuesday hit a national average of $4 a gallon. Asked what he would do about it, Trump said: "All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon, and they'll become tumbling down."

"I would say that within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three," he added.

Trump also appeared to reverse previous promises about reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

"We'll be leaving very soon. And if France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they'll go up through the strait, the Hormuz Strait, they'll go right up there, and they'll be able to fend for themselves. I think it'll be very safe, actually, but we have nothing to do with that. What happens with the strait? We're not going to have anything to do with it," he said.

Just on Monday, though, Trump offered this threat on social media over the strait reopening: "If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'"

The White House later said Trump would speak to the nation about the war at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Here are more updates from the war in the Middle East:

Kidnapped journalist | Troop visit | Peacekeeper deaths | Iran | Rubio on Spain | Trump slams allies | Dalai Lama

American journalist kidnapped in Iraq

Iraqi authorities reported a foreign journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad Tuesday. It turned out to be an American freelance reporter, Shelly Kittleson, according to Al-Monitor, a Middle Eastern news site for which she has written articles.

Iraqi security forces said they intercepted a vehicle that crashed and arrested one of the suspected kidnappers, but are stilling searching for the kidnapped journalist and other suspects.

U.S. officials say they're working to get her released.

"The State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them and we will continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible," Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, said on social media.

He said Americans, including media workers, have been advised not to travel to Iraq and should leave the country. The statement did not condemn the kidnapping or express concern.

Johnson said Iraqi authorities apprehended a suspect associated with Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, believed to be involved in the kidnapping.

This comes as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran enters its second month, and the fallout ricochets across the region.

Press freedom organizations expressed deep concern. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on "Iraqi authorities to do everything in their power to locate Shelley Kittleson, ensure her immediate and safe release, and hold those responsible to account."

Based in Rome, Kittleson has reported on Iraq, as well as Syria and Afghanistan, for years, according to Al-Monitor.

Reporters Without Borders said she is "very familiar with Iraq, where she stays for extended periods."

"RSF stands alongside her loved ones and colleagues during this painful wait," the organization said.

Al-Monitor said in a statement it is "deeply alarmed" by her kidnapping. "We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work," it said.

U.S. defense secretary visits troops

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an undisclosed trip to the Middle East to visit troops over the weekend. He did not divulge the location for the troops' safety.

"I spoke to Air Force and Navy pilots on the flight line who every day both deliver bombs deep into Iran, but also shoot down drones defending their base. Many had just returned from the skies of Iran and Tehran," he told reporters in a briefing Tuesday.

He said he "witnessed an urgency to finish the job" and tried to draw a comparison with America's earlier drawn-out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said the U.S. is improving bunkers and layered air defenses as a priority to protect troops and aircraft.

This comes after more than a dozen U.S. service members were injured, several severely, and U.S. aircraft were damaged in Iranian strikes on a base in Saudi Arabia last Friday. The Pentagon says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and 300 wounded in what it calls Operation Epic Fury.

He repeated the administration's assertion that the U.S. is negotiating with Iran, despite Iranian officials' denial that talks are happening.

He said the U.S. prefers negotiations, but would not rule out using ground troops.

"In the meantime, we'll negotiate with bombs," Hegseth said. "Our job is to ensure that we compel Iran to realize that this new regime, this regime in charge is in a better place if they make that deal."

President Trump told the New York Post he is in talks with Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Security Council meets after U.N. peacekeeper deaths

Countries denounced the killings of three U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon this week as they met for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

"These are sadly not the only dangerous incidents faced by UNIFIL's courageous peacekeepers," Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the head of U.N. peacekeeping, said, using the acronym for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. "There has been a worrying increase in denials of freedom of movement and aggressive behavior."

Lacroix said initial findings suggested two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed Monday in a roadside explosion in southern Lebanon. A day earlier another peacekeeper from Indonesia was killed when a projectile hit a U.N. base, Lacroix said.

Their deaths came as Israeli forces have invaded Lebanon, intensifying a second front in the war in the Middle East. Israel says it is targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The U.N. has not pinned blame and is investigating the incidents.

Ahead of the Security Council meeting, Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, expressed condolences for the Indonesian peacekeepers' deaths.

Displaced people warm up around a fire outside their tent along Beirut's seafront area on March 30, 2026.

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Dimitar Dilkoff

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AFP via Getty Images

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Danon blamed Hezbollah for laying explosive devices that killed two peacekeepers on Monday.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz paid tribute to the Indonesian peacekeepers and urged Security Council members not to jump to conclusions but to allow the U.N. to investigate.

Indonesia's foreign minister called for a swift, thorough and transparent investigation.

Iran executions, Starlink arrests

Meanwhile, Iran says it has arrested 46 people who were selling Starlink internet connections — one of the few ways that people in Iran have been able to connect to the global internet while authorities block communication. Starlink allows users to connect directly to the internet via satellite, bypassing government firewalls.

Global internet monitor NetBlocks said the country's "internet blackout has entered day 32."

"Extended digital isolation is bringing new challenges for Iranians, from expired domains and accounts to unpatched servers on a degrading national intranet," it said on X.

Iran said it executed two people who had taken part in opposition activities as well as two citizens it accused of spying for the U.S. and Israel.

Rubio accuses Spain's prime minister of "bragging"

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday responded to news that Spain had closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war by lashing out at the NATO partner. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Rubio answered a question about whether the EU and NATO countries had "betrayed the U.S." by focusing on Spain, a NATO member who has publicly adopted a position opposing the war in Iran.

Gas prices are displayed at a Mobil gas station on March 30, 2026 in Pasadena, California. The average price of one gallon of regular self-service gasoline rose to $5.99 today in Los Angeles County, climbing from $4.69 one month ago, amid the ongoing war with Iran.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images North America

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"We have countries like Spain, a NATO member that we are pledged to defend, denying us the use of their airspace and bragging about it, denying us the use of our – of their bases," Rubio said.

Earlier on Monday, Spain Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the country had closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war. It is unclear when the closure started — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had hinted at the measure during a parliamentary debate on March 25.

The weekend the U.S. and Israel launched the attack on Iran, flight records showed at least 15 in-flight refueling planes leaving two jointly operated military bases in the south of Spain after not being allowed to provide support for the military action in Iran. Robles later confirmed the decision by the Spanish Government. That triggered a spat between President Trump and Spain's leadership the week after the war started. Trump said from the Oval Office that he would cut off all trade with Spain if the Spanish government did not allow U.S. forces to use the jointly operated bases. In response, Sánchez doubled down on his stance on the war in the Middle East.

Sánchez has relied on his opposition to the war, making it his main platform at the domestic level. Sánchez's Socialist Party has struggled to keep a government coalition from breaking apart, as he faces pressure to keep his party's hopes alive ahead of a parliamentary election due in 2027.

Trump slams allies

President Trump criticized France and the United Kingdom, among others, on his social media platform.

"All of those countries that can't get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump had asked allies for help after Iran largely blockaded the vital waterway, sending up oil and gas prices. But they have been hesitant to join in the war, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer repeating again this week that Britain would not get involved.

"You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!" Trump's post concluded.

He also said France "wouldn't let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory." and called the country "VERY UNHELPFUL."

Dalai Lama calls for peace

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday posted an appeal for an end to war in the Middle East.

"History has shown us time and again that violence only begets more violence and is never a lasting foundation for peace," he said on his official account on X.

"An enduring resolution to conflict, including the ones we see in the Middle East or between Russia and Ukraine, must be rooted in dialogue, diplomacy and mutual respect — approached with the understanding that, at the deepest level, we are all brothers and sisters," he said.

He said he was adding his plea to one made at the Vatican by Pope Leo during his Palm Sunday Mass, adding: "His call for the laying down of arms and the renunciation of violence resonated profoundly with me, as it speaks to the very essence of what all major religions teach."

Carrie Kahn in Tel Aviv, Israel, Lauren Frayer in Beirut, Jennifer Pak in Shanghai, Emily Feng in Van, Turkey, Miguel Macias in Seville, Spain, Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg, Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan, Quil Lawrence in New York, Giles Snyder, Michele Kelemen and Alex Leff in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 NPR

The Los Angeles region’s homelessness agency will miss a Tuesday deadline for submitting its federally required annual audit of the agency’s financial records, which could jeopardize its federal funding.

LAHSA executives blamed the delay on a “perfect storm” of leadership changes and competing priorities within LAHSA’s finance department, including an L.A. County review of LAHSA’s delayed payments to contractors.

“Our staff made a good-faith effort to meet the deadline,” interim CEO Gita O’Neill said at a LAHSA Commission meeting Tuesday. “However, over the past year, we've experienced several transitions. As a result, we could not get all the required materials to the auditors as quickly as needed.”

Each year, LAHSA, like all non-federal agencies and organizations that get substantial federal dollars, is required to hire an outside auditor to determine whether it’s properly tracking and reporting the taxpayer funds it manages.

LAHSA’s single audit report for last fiscal year was due March 31, nine months after fiscal year 2024-2025 ended. Earlier this month, LAHSA officials said they were on track to meet the March 31 deadline.

Justin Measley, lead auditor for the firm CliftonLarsonAllen, had warned that LAHSA was months behind schedule turning over records.

At a meeting Tuesday, Measley explained that because of LAHSA’s earlier delays, the firm would need at least an additional week to complete a quality-control review process.

“We’re moving at the fastest pace we possibly can,” Measley said.

On Tuesday, LAHSA officials said the single audit will be filed “at the earliest possible opportunity,” within the next few weeks.

Federal funds at risk

LAHSA manages hundreds of millions of federal dollars each year, through grants from the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.

O’Neill said the agency has been communicating with HUD officials regularly about the missed audit deadline and is “hoping for understanding.”

Janine Lim, LAHSA’s deputy chief financial officer, said she’s also been talking with HUD.

“They seem amenable to our situation and to our stated timelines,” Lim said. “So, we are hopeful that this will be a good outcome, despite having missed the deadline.”

HUD did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment Tuesday.

What went wrong 

Measley said LAHSA’s financial statements should have been turned over around last December, but LAHSA only submitted them this month, after blowing through multiple extended deadlines.

Measley said he contacted LAHSA’s governing commission about the overdue documents March 3.

He said he also previewed his firm’s findings, noting one “significant deficiency” in its draft report, related to LAHSA’s timeliness in detecting accounting errors.

LAHSA could contest those findings, officials said. That would add additional back-and-forth between the homelessness agency and accounting firm before the audit report is ready to file.

Justin Szlasa, a LAHSA commissioner who chairs the audit subcommittee, told LAHSA’s CEO he’s concerned that there was no time provided for LAHSA’s governing body to review the audit report.

“Next year, we will absolutely do that,” O’Neill responded. “I think this year, we were under the gun, and so we felt it was the most important thing was to get it uploaded on time.”

O’Neill said the agency hired accounting firm KPMG to help modernize LAHSA’s financial systems, with a focus on its contractor payments.

“We have an outside, trusted voice to help us create a system that works going forward because the system we have is not working at all, in finance,” O’Neill said.

Updated March 31, 2026 at 20:44 PM ET

President Trump on Tuesday escalated his efforts to reshape American elections, signing an executive order that seeks to create lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state, and instructing the U.S. Postal Service to send mail ballots only to verified voters.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he believes the order is legally "foolproof." But election experts said the order was unconstitutional, and voting rights advocates and Democratic state officials quickly pledged to sue to block the order from going into effect.

A previous executive order on elections, signed about a year ago, has been blocked by federal judges who said the president lacked the constitutional authority to set voting policy.

The Constitution says the "Times, Places and Manner" of federal elections are determined by individual states, with Congress able to enact changes.

"This Executive Order is a disgusting overreach from the federal government and shows how little the Trump Administration understands about election administration," Adrian Fontes, the Democratic secretary of state of Arizona, said in a statement Tuesday. "We will not let this order stand without a fight and will meet the federal government in court," he added.

Arizona is among more than two dozen states Trump's Department of Justice has sued over access to sensitive voter data.

The Trump administration claims it needs the data to enforce states' voter list maintenance. Federal judges in three states have dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuits in those states.

In another case, a DOJ official admitted in court last week that the department plans to share that voter data with the Department of Homeland Security, to run it through the so-called SAVE system to search for noncitizens.

NPR has reported that some U.S. citizens have also been inaccurately flagged by SAVE.

How the executive order seeks to change voting

Trump has long railed — baselessly — about widespread illegal voting by noncitizens and fraud associated with mail ballots.

The new executive order — which was first reported by The Daily Caller — takes aim at both.

It instructs the Department of Homeland Security, working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration, to "compile and transmit to the chief election official of each State a list of individuals confirmed to be United States citizens who will be above the age of 18 at the time of an upcoming Federal election and who maintain a residence in the subject State."

The order then "requires the USPS to transmit ballots only to individuals enrolled on a State-specific Mail-in and Absentee Participation List, ensuring that only eligible absentee or mail-in voters receive absentee or mail-in ballots," according to a White House fact sheet.

Trump's executive order claims that "additional measures are necessary" to secure voting by mail, a form of voting he has used himself — including last week — but also falsely maligned for years. In the 2024 general election, nearly a third of all voters cast mail ballots.

The Postal Service should also review the design of mail ballot envelopes to protect "the integrity of Federal elections," the order says.

Collectively, the provisions would be a significant change to how mail ballot programs are currently administered in American elections, which are largely carried out by state and local officials.

"Our government's citizenship lists are incomplete and inaccurate. The United States Postal Service is overburdened and inadequate. This combines a car crash with a train wreck," the Brennan Center for Justice, which advocates for expanded voting access and sued to block Trump's 2025 election executive order, said in a statement.

Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UCLA, wrote on his blog that the order is likely unconstitutional. And regardless, he added, "the timing here makes this virtually impossible to implement in time for November's elections. … It seems highly unlikely any of this could be implemented for 2026, even if it were not blocked by courts."

The order comes as Trump pressures Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election overhaul that would impose new voter identification and documentation requirements.

That bill is stalled in the Senate due to Democratic opposition and the legislative filibuster.

The Supreme Court is also expected to rule this year on whether Mississippi should be allowed to count mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but received by election officials after Election Day.

The legal challenge, which could have sweeping implications for mail voting nationwide, was filed by the Republican National Committee and Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Federal immigration officials arrested more than 14,000 people in the greater Los Angeles area in 2025 — the majority of whom had no criminal record, according to an LAist analysis of new data from the Deportation Data Project.

The data project, an initiative between UCLA and UC Berkeley, publishes federal data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

In 2025, federal officials arrested 14,394 people, up from 4,681 the year prior. Forty-six percent of people arrested had criminal convictions, 15% had pending charges, and 39% had no criminal charges or convictions.

In a December news release, the Department of Homeland Security said it had arrested more than 10,000 people in the L.A. area since immigration raids began in June of last year, including "murderers, kidnappers, sexual predators and armed carjackers,” but did not publish details of the number of people who had criminal records.

The data from the Deportation Data Project shows that arrests in L.A. spiked in June, and about two-thirds of people arrested that month had no criminal convictions.

More than 313,000 people were arrested by ICE nationwide in 2025, according to an LAist analysis.

In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said the agency has not “verified the accuracy, methodology or analysis of the project and its results” and said “this only reveals how data is manipulated to peddle the false narrative that DHS is not targeting the worst of the worst.” The spokesperson said 61% of people ICE arrested across the country either had criminal convictions or pending charges.

The agency has regularly published press releases identifying people they have arrested and who they have called “the worst of the worst,” including from the raids in L.A. in June. But an LAist investigation and reporting from other outlets has found that some of the people on those lists already has been in custody and were serving lengthy sentences.