Recent immigration raids have stripped many Los Angeles families of their primary breadwinner. Other immigrant workers who have not been detained are also losing income as workplaces shut down to avoid becoming the next target for masked, armed federal agents.
The economic fallout has made paying rent even more challenging for undocumented L.A. tenants, two-thirds of whom were already paying rents considered unaffordable by federal government standards.
Now, local governments such as the city of L.A., Long Beach and L.A. County are asking philanthropists to fund cash assistance programs. The goal is to use private dollars to help families affected by the raids pay for rent and other expenses.
So far the efforts have been relatively small in scale. Some immigrant and tenant rights groups say cities should be digging deeper to help families in need.
“It’s a start, and something is better than nothing — and no, it does not go far enough,” said Estuardo Mazariegos, co-director of the L.A. Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, an economic justice advocacy group.
Local relief efforts have been complicated by municipal budget shortfalls. With the Trump administration spearheading the immigration raids, cash-strapped cities cannot rely on the federal government to provide rent relief funds, as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elected leaders are also worried about privacy concerns for undocumented immigrants seeking aid. In addition, they have to consider potential blowback from Republicans in Washington, D.C. who oppose putting taxpayer funds toward housing support for unauthorized immigrants.
Cash-strapped LA cities ask private donors to help immigrants pay rent following ICE raids
While local governments cobble together assistance funds, many tenants are left wondering how they’ll pay their August rent.
Esmeralda, a Boyle Heights resident, told LAist the raids have caused her to lose work cleaning homes. She asked that only her first name be used in this story for fear of being targeted by immigration authorities.
She said even before the raids began, more than half of her income went straight to rent. Now, she said, her income has plummeted.
“My children are afraid of me leaving the house,” Esmeralda said, speaking in Spanish.
Long Beach asks for donations
On Friday, the day he announced the new Long Beach Neighbors Supporting Neighbors fund, Mayor Rex Richardson told LAist that he recognizes the urgent need for financial help.
“Income goes down from two incomes to one in the household, rents are already high, and it may create an emergency,” Richardson said.
The California Community Foundation, a local philanthropic organization, seeded the city’s fund with an initial contribution of $100,000. Long Beach, which is facing a general fund shortfall of $61.5 million over the next five years, is now asking for more donations to help eligible families pay for rent, groceries and other necessities.
Richardson said he still hopes to find tax dollars to support families affected by the raids.
Meeting the scale of the problem is “going to require significant funding, and that's where cities and counties can step up,” Richardson said. “This is a part of a broader strategy.”
Some programs have yet to reveal funding levels
This week, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to establish a cash assistance fund within 30 days for households economically hurt by the raids. Details on how much funding will be available, and how much eligible households could receive, were not yet available.
As in Long Beach, county leaders envision funding this program primarily through private donations. The county’s budget has been rocked by a $4 billion sex abuse settlement, the largest in U.S. history. Most county departments have had to cut spending by 3%.
Supervisor Hilda Solis, who introduced the proposal, said in a written statement: “While the eligibility criteria, prioritization framework, and distribution mechanisms are still being finalized, the goal is clear: to deliver critical, compassionate support in a manner that protects confidentiality.”
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said last Friday that the city is also working to set up a cash aid program in response to the raids. She said philanthropic organizations would fund the program, which could provide “a couple hundred dollars” to eligible families through prepaid debit cards.
Bass said she has met with families who lost income after a worker was detained. She recalled meeting one mother who “now is concerned that she might face being evicted and being homeless” because a family member was locked up by federal immigration authorities.
When asked if the city has plans to contribute taxpayer funds toward the relief effort, Bass said: “I wish we had general fund money for that.”
Last month, Bass signed a budget that included hundreds of layoffs and other service cuts to close a nearly $1 billion dollar revenue shortfall.
LAist reached out to ask the Mayor’s Office when the cash assistance program would launch, and how much funding would be available. We haven’t received a response.
A push to re-prioritize ‘mansion tax’ money
Tenant rights groups have said many immigrant families could soon fall short on rent, face eviction and potentially become unhoused if cities don’t do more to help. Some have called for a moratorium on evictions, a policy that so far has not been taken up by local elected leaders.
The United to House L.A. coalition is now pushing for the city of L.A. to help immigrant families with funds from Measure ULA, often called the city’s “mansion tax” because it raises money from the sale of properties worth more than $5 million.
Joe Donlin, the coalition’s director, wrote in a recent letter to the ULA Citizens Oversight Committee that this voter-approved source of tax revenue would be “an appropriate vehicle through which the City can support families deeply harmed by these actions.”
Specifically, advocates want the city to prioritize households affected by immigration raids for a $14.6 million round of funding scheduled to launch this fall. The measure’s Income Support Program was originally designed to give direct financial assistance to low-income tenants who are elderly or disabled, and at risk of losing their housing.
The program remains focused on seniors and renters with disabilities. But it has since been tweaked to prioritize households that lost income because of January’s wildfires.
Mazariegos, with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, said ULA was created to address “urgent needs.”
“We have the opportunity to extend it to the people that are directly impacted by this crisis, just like we extended it to people directly impacted by the fires,” he said.
Later this month, the city’s ULA Citizens Oversight Committee plans to vote on whether to prioritize families affected by the raids. The proposal would need a vote of approval from the full City Council in August before households could apply, tentatively in September or October.
Bucking the trend toward private donations, the city of Montebello has committed $100,000 in general funds toward a rent and utility relief program for immigrant families hurt by the raids.
Montebello officials said those affected by federal enforcement actions should call the city at (323) 887-1363. The city will cut checks directly to landlords and utility companies, and all inquiries will be handled confidentially, they said.
