The Brief

Thousands of students from schools across Los Angeles walked out Wednesday in peaceful protest of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The Los Angeles Unified School District estimated 4,500 students from about two dozen schools participated.

Students said the escalation of immigration raids threatens their families, communities and education.

Matthew, a junior at Lincoln High School, created the @lausdwalkouts2026 Instagram account. He said he was inspired by last year’s student protests and family members who have been afraid to leave their homes or go to the supermarket.

“It felt important because I was speaking out for those that don't have a voice,” Matthew said.

Alexis, a senior at Brío College Prep, said administrators locked down his campus after agents detained a nearby fruit vendor.

“He was a part of our community,” Alexis said. “He would always be out there selling fruits to us after school.”

Roybal Learning Center senior Melisa.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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Jazlyn Garcia, a senior at  Alliance Gertz-Ressler High School.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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Leonna, a senior at Downtown Magnets High School and daughter of immigrants from Cambodia.

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Sabrina Sanchez

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Students join history of activism

Los Angeles students have a history of activism, including the 1968 “blowouts” now recognized as the start of the urban Chicano rights movement.

Matthew, the student organizer, met with peers from other high schools to create a schedule and a list of demands of the district and its teachers that included providing more resources for immigrant students and training for students and staff on how to interact with federal agents.

Social media accounts tied to the walkouts also provided advice on how to take public transportation and stay safe during the protest.

San Fernando Valley students at more than 40 schools plan to walk out Friday.

LAUSD estimated that several thousand students walked out.

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Sabrina Sanchez

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LAist

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Students said they were concerned for family and neighbors.

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Sabrina Sanchez

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LAist

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Students said the response from teachers and school administrators ranged from supportive to cautious. Some students made protest signs during class and others said they were warned about potential disciplinary actions.

California law requires students to attend school, but middle and high school absences may be excused for engaging in a “civic or political event” with prior notice.

“Los Angeles Unified supports the rights of our students to advocate for causes important to them,” a district spokesperson wrote in a statement to LAist. “However, we are concerned for student safety at off-campus demonstrations as schools are the safest place for students.”

The district encouraged students to exercise their rights in on-campus discussions and demonstrations.

This truck led the procession of student protestors through downtown Los Angeles Wednesday.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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Dozens of adults volunteered to accompany students from their schools to downtown, where they handed out water, snacks and sunscreen.

Rachel Crowe was one of about 10 volunteers in bright yellow vests who arrived at the protest with students from John Marshall High School.

“They just deserve an outlet,” Crowe said. “That's wild to have to balance being a high schooler and not knowing if your parents are coming home. That's horrifying.”

The students gathered in front of City Hall around noon and then marched to the Metropolitan Detention Center and through Little Tokyo.

The Los Angeles Police Department ordered the crowd to disperse around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The following morning, Officer Rosario Cervantes said five people were arrested in connection with the protest — four juveniles for suspected vandalism and one adult for suspected battery on a police officer. LAist saw several individuals tag the buildings and bus shelters along the route. Anti-ICE tagging was also sprayed in red, white and blue paint onto the Japanese American National Museum.

The building, which houses artifacts related to the Japanese American immigrant experience, including incarceration during World War II, was also hit by graffiti during last year’s anti-ICE protests.

Four million acres of California’s wildest backcountry could soon be opened to paving roads and logging.

The Trump administration announced last week that it’s pushing forward with a proposal to scrap a 2001 rule that blocks logging, road building and other construction in parts of national forests. The administration argues repealing the so-called “roadless rule” is key to managing vegetation to better prevent wildfires on public lands.

Environmental advocates and other groups worry rescinding the rule would harm pristine habitat and the wildlife it supports, and open up more public land to industrial activities and human access that can cause more wildfires.

And locals are worried about losing access to some of the last protected natural lands in the region.

“What we're dealing with here in the roadless rule is the protection of the backcountry,” said David Browning, president of the Orange County Mountain Bike Association, “where you can actually go out and be having an experience where you don't hear traffic, where you don't see buildings, where you actually remember what it was like before all of us got here.”

In Southern California, large swaths of the Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests would lose protections.

Browning, who spoke with All Things Considered host Julia Paskin on Monday, said he’s particularly concerned about the Santa Ana Mountains, where much of Orange County’s backcountry biking trails exist within a roadless area that could be opened to construction.

“Our mission is to protect and expand trail access, and so our entire agenda is to make sure that in a highly populated county, like Orange, that we have available the outdoors to be able to go and enjoy,” he said.

Browning takes issue with the wildfire argument — he pointed to the 2024 Airport Fire, which was sparked when heavy equipment operated by Orange County employees struck a rock. They were moving large boulders that day to, in part, block vehicles from getting into a dry brush area and potentially starting a fire. Browning said the “roadless rule” prevents such access that could increase the risk of fire. A recent peer-reviewed study supports that, finding that although roads are important for managing a fire once it ignites, they’re also more likely to be a place where a fire starts.

Though addressing wildfires and protecting public lands have become heavily politicized under the Trump administration, Browning thinks most locals probably aren’t as divided.

“ I don't think this is a party issue,” he said. “We want to hold onto the outdoors and protect them as best we can.”

There unfortunately isn’t much respite in sight for heat-weary Southern Californians.

Forecasters say this week’s heat wave is likely to be the hottest so far this summer. Extreme heat warnings will be in effect from the National Weather Service for almost the entire region from Tuesday morning through Friday evening.

Temperatures will peak between Tuesday and Thursday.

Highs in downtown Los Angeles are expected to reach around 100 degrees, and the warmest inland valleys will get up to 112. L.A. County beaches will hit the high 80s.

Forecasters have also issued Red Flag Warnings for the interior mountains and foothills of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Gusty winds and low humidity at higher elevations mean fires could spark and spread quickly.

At lower elevations, humidity continues to make the heat feel more sweltering and make it harder to cool down, especially at night. Nighttime temperatures will only get down to the 70s in most places, including along the coast.

A slight cooldown is expected this weekend, though forecasters say temperatures will stay above normal into next week.

The extreme heat this week poses an especially high risk of heat-related illness for people over 65, young children, people who work or spend a lot of time outside and those without access to air conditioning.

Driving the heat

Several factors are behind this week’s heat wave, many of which have also been behind the rest of this summer’s consistently hot weather.

The main driver is a high pressure air system hovering over the southwestern U.S., trapping warm air, compressing it and warming it further, and blocking cooler air from entering the region.

Offshore winds are also pushing warm inland air toward the coast, preventing cooler onshore winds from blowing inland.

“That blocks our natural air conditioning off the ocean from coming in as early as it normally does,” said Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford. “So as long as that cool air stays offshore, it heats up on land.”

The offshore winds are not strong enough, however, to significantly dry out the air in the L.A. Basin and cut down on the humidity.

“That's probably going to be around for the whole summer because you’ve got all this warm ocean water that's feeding into that,” Wofford said.

Warmer seawater evaporates faster, adding to moisture in the air and increasing humidity across the region, especially along the coasts.

Air quality warnings

Along with the heat this week, many Southern Californians also have smog to worry about.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an ozone advisory on Monday for inland areas of Los Angeles and Orange counties, much of Riverside County and parts of San Bernardino County. It will remain in effect through Friday evening.

The multi-day smog event is in part driven by the heatwave.

Officials say ozone pollution may reach unhealthy levels or higher in the Santa Clarita Valley, parts of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino valleys, and portions of the San Bernardino Mountains.

Under unhealthy levels, it’s possible for anyone to experience adverse health effects like difficulty breathing and throat irritation. Sensitive populations could experience more serious effects.

Levels are expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups in the San Fernando Valley, Perris Valley, Mission Viejo, Lake Elsinore, Corona, Hemet, Riverside and Pasadena.

Officials advise certain vulnerable groups — including people with heart or lung disease, those with asthma, pregnant women, children and people over 65 — to limit their time outdoors.

Officials predict that ozone levels will be lower along the coast.