The Brief

Federal immigration raids across Southern California have been taking workers away from their families. After the initial shock of separation, those left behind are starting to wonder how they’ll pay next month’s rent.

As President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts collide with L.A.’s deeply entrenched housing crisis, local tenant advocates are bracing for more families to fall behind on rent.

“We will likely see an uptick of folks being evicted due to non-payment of rent, and the inciting event will be that their loved one was detained and taken by" Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Henrissa Bassey, an eviction defense attorney with the legal aid nonprofit Bet Tzedek.

Relatives of detainees say they’re not sure how they’ll cover their July 1 rent payment.

Other immigrant workers who have not been detained are also losing income as entire workplaces shut down to avoid being targeted in future sweeps.

Immigrant workers were already struggling to afford L.A.’s high rents before this month’s raids. By federal housing affordability standards, 67% of undocumented households are considered to be financially burdened by L.A. rents, according to a 2024 report by the USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute.

Bassey said loss of income triggered by the raids could be devastating for families in a region where Latinos have been one of the fastest-growing segments of the unhoused population.

“This could have the result of increasing homelessness for entire families,” Bassey said.

When breadwinners are locked up

In the desert city of Adelanto, two hours northeast of L.A. by car, people seized in recent sweeps are being held in an ICE detention center run by the private prison company GEO Group.

U.S. Congress members who recently inspected the facility said the Adelanto ICE Processing Center is holding about 1,200 detainees. Some families have been able to visit their relatives, who have been moved far from their homes.

Some people who have been detained by ICE are being held in Adelanto, in the California desert, at a facility run by the private prison company GEO Group.

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“Their conditions inside there were awful,” said Leslie Quechol, who came to visit her cousin this week. Her cousin was one of dozens arrested in a raid on Ambiance Apparel, a company in downtown L.A.’s Fashion District.

Quechol said her cousin is “the head of his household.” After being detained, he “left three kids and his wife” behind in their Boyle Heights home, Quechol said.

With their sole breadwinner behind bars, the family is worried about paying next month’s rent. Quechol said her cousin’s wife is staying home to care for their children, aged 1 to 9. Quechol doubts their landlord will have much patience if the rent is late.

“That's not how it works," she said. "She's going to have to see where she's going to have to go with her three children.”

Should L.A. pause evictions? 

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has described the raids as a “body blow” to the L.A. economy. Some tenant advocates think the city should respond with a moratorium on evictions.

Tony Carfello, an organizer with the L.A. Tenants Union, said a pause on evictions is necessary because immigrant workers are facing “two crisis situations at once.” L.A. rent puts them at risk of eviction, while ICE raids put them at risk of deportation if they keep working for rent money.

The way Carfello sees it, many immigrant renters are in a double bind: “Am I going to be picked up and deported without due process,” he said, “or am I going to be sent out on the streets?”

In an email, Dan Yukelson with the Apartment Association of Greater L.A. said his organization is “unaware of any issues concerning payment of rent” because of recent detentions.

Local landlords have consistently opposed calls to reinstate pandemic-era eviction protections for late rent payments.

“Renters who might invariably claim that ICE has somehow impeded their ability to sustain employment and pay rent on time will merely use any excuse to not pay rent,” Yukelson said.

LAist asked Bass and L.A. City Council Housing Committee Chair Nithya Raman if they would support an eviction moratorium. Neither responded.

Similar proposals related to the economic fallout from January’s wildfires have failed to win the support of the L.A. City Council.

Workplaces closing as a precaution

Paying rent on time will be challenging not just for families with someone in detention. Entire workplaces have shut down, causing immigrant workers to lose income even if they haven’t been detained.

Preemptive workplace closures have been happening in L.A.’s apparel industry, a low-wage sector that heavily relies on undocumented workers. In a 2020 survey conducted by the Garment Worker Center, 93% of L.A. workers said they worry about paying rent.

Juan, a garment worker in L.A., said his boss told him and dozens of other workers to stay home after the Ambiance Apparel raid. The decision to close the factory was made to avoid being targeted in another federal sweep. But it means workers are not getting paid.

Like others in this story, Juan asked us not to use his full name because of the risk of being targeted by immigration authorities.

Speaking in Spanish, Juan said: “I think about this every day. Day after day, I think maybe I won’t be able to make rent.”

Juan said his wife and daughter have been cooking and selling food out of their apartment. But it’s not bringing in enough money to cover the rent, which claims about two-thirds of his monthly income.

“As the father of the family, I’ll have to see where I can get the money to pay my rent,” Juan said. “I’ll have to figure it out.”

Arturo has spent less time looking for work as a day laborer at this Home Depot since federal agents stormed the parking lot and arrested workers on June 6.

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Raids send some workers into hiding

Day laborers are among the workers who have been arrested in recent raids. Arturo normally goes to the parking lot of a Home Depot in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood to look for work.

“Many people are no longer coming, because they’re afraid,” he said, speaking in Spanish.

Arturo was there when masked agents stormed the parking lot and started grabbing and handcuffing people on June 6. Arturo said he managed to run to safety inside the Home Depot. But since the raid, his income has dropped significantly.

Arturo said he’s been getting some work from past clients. But he’s not hanging around the Home Depot for now. He fears he could be late on next month’s rent.

Immigrants without legal authorization to be in the country are not eligible for unemployment benefits. Arturo said he has learned more about his rights from the L.A. Tenants Union, but other forms of assistance are hard to find.

“Sometimes, there's no support — moral, psychological or legal support from people who can help or tell you what you can do to avoid being evicted,” Arturo said.

Arturo recalled one time when he paid his rent late. He said his landlord told him there are plenty of people who’d like the chance to take his spot.

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan on Friday evening, local time. Athletes representing over 90 countries march into the San Siro stadium filled with thousands of spectators during the opening ceremony in Milan.

The performance paid homage to Italian music, art and culture with tributes to composers, visual artists and films in a colorful spectacle. Performers included Italian actress Matilda De Angelis, American singer Mariah Carey, Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, Italian rapper Ghali and Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello, among dozens of other dancers.

Here is a selection of images from the opening ceremony:

Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello perform during the opening ceremony.

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Colorful dancers perform under large tubes of paint suspended above them during the opening ceremony.

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Italian actress Matilda De Angelis (center) performs with dancers dressed as the three great masters of Italian opera: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.

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Mariah Carey sings during the opening ceremony.

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Performers dressed in the colors of the Italian flag line up during the opening ceremony.

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Members of The Corazzieri, the Italian Corps of Cuirassiers, raise the Italian flag during the opening ceremony.

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Two performers are suspended between two large rings.

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The Olympic Rings are revealed above dancers during the opening ceremony.

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An aerial view of the athletes parading into the San Siro stadium.

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Stoats Milo and Tina, the Paralympics and Olympics mascots, dance before the Olympic opening ceremony.

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MILAN — During the first days of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, the long shadows of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell spread to touch the Olympic movement.

While in Milan, one of the top organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games faced calls to step aside after his emails turned up in the latest tranche of Epstein documents released by the U.S. Justice Department.

"I will be in nyc for four days starting April 22...can we book that massage now," wrote Casey Wasserman in an email to Maxwell in the spring of 2003. A few days later, Wasserman said, "The only thing I want from Paris is you."

There's no indication of criminal wrongdoing in the emails, which were sent more than twenty years ago. But for a prominent figure like Wasserman, who heads an influential sports and entertainment agency, any association with the pair is fraught.

Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in 2022 for conspiring to sexually abuse minors. Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial in jail in 2019.

Wasserman has kept a low profile since news of his emails broke. He appeared publicly this week at a gathering of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Milan, where he touted progress developing the L.A. Games but didn't take questions from reporters.

In a statement, Wasserman said he never had "a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein" and he apologized for his flirtatious exchanges with Maxwell. "I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them."

That hasn't quelled the controversy. A growing number of political leaders in L.A. have called for Wasserman to step down from his role as one of the leading public faces of the next Summer Games.

"Casey Wasserman should step aside immediately," L.A. City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said in a statement sent to LAist. "Anything less is a distraction and undermines efforts to make sure the Games truly reflect the values of a city that is for everyone."

L.A. city controller Kennith Mejia, who monitors the city's finances, said on social media that "Los Angeles cannot trust our financial future to someone connected with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell." Mejia added that "Wasserman must take accountability and resign."

Questions of Wasserman's future keep surfacing in Milan as the first sports competitions get underway. IOC chair Kirsty Coventry acknowledged at a press conference Thursday that she's been asked repeatedly about the scandal.

"Casey has put out a statement. I have nothing further to add on that," she said. Asked about the fact that Wasserman hasn't spoken directly with journalists, Coventry said, "I'll have them come find you guys and have a little chit-chat."

The head of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Gene Sykes, also faced repeated questions about the matter in Milan on Thursday.

"Casey's made a statement that reflects the perspective he has on what came to light, when the emails were released, with the rest of the Epstein file," Sykes told reporters. "We have nothing to add to that, his statement stands on its own."

Sykes went on to voice confidence in Wasserman's leadership. "I have more confidence today in L.A. 28's operational capabilities, its leadership, the quality of what its doing and how well they're executing than I've had at any point of time," he said, pointing to the L.A. bid's strong fundraising.

A long list of corporate executives, academic leaders, physicians, scientists, politicians, members of European royalty, and others, have been caught up in the Epstein scandal. A growing number of them have resigned, been fired, or been forced to step back from public life.

If you're wondering whether it is truly worth the $8 million to $10 million cost per 30 seconds to air a commercial during the Super Bowl, just ask the creative minds behind the pro-Jesus advertising campaign "He Gets Us."

According to Come Near, the group managing the "He Gets Us" campaign, after airing commercials in three previous Super Bowls, they have seen nearly 10 billion video views, more than 70 million visitors to their website HeGetsUs.com and an awareness of the campaign so high that 40% of adults in the U.S. now know about He Gets Us.

And they expect that awareness to only expand with their fourth Super Bowl ad this Sunday titled "More," focused on the pressures many feel in modern society to pursue more of everything.

"There's not a lot of moments like this. … We're looking for moments where people really congregate," says Simon Armour, chief creative officer for Come Near, which has crafted the "More" ad as part of a campaign called "Loaded Words." "We're constantly asking, 'Are we really meeting people where they're at?'"

Offering a distinctly non-commercial message in the middle of the world's biggest advertising showcase is certainly one way to stand out. But that's only one of the many messages featured in an event that set a record last year — and the year before — as the most watched single telecast in U.S. history.

A dive into the raft of ads airing in the Big Game that were released early, aimed at rocketing around social media to build buzz before their debut Sunday, revealed the typical mix of celebrities, nostalgia, special effects and bold humor we see every year.

New in the mix: A few efforts encouraging fans to build their own Super Bowl commercials, including an option from Uber Eats allowing users to make 1,000 versions of celebrity-filled ads and a contest sponsored by Artlist.io, an AI platform for video creation, offering $60,000 for the best subscriber-created spot.

And, as we have seen in recent years, there's a decided lack of commercials offering any kind of sharp social message. At a time when America seems more divided than ever, most advertisers don't seem keen on spending millions to address the social or political issues of the day.

Of course, the most impressive messages may not surface until the Big Game itself. But here's a look at some of the most interesting commercials unveiled in advance, offering a look at the bold swings marketers are about to take on the biggest stage in media.

Best use of a self-deprecating celebrity, Part 1: Raisin Bran's 'Will Shat'

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One of the coolest things in modern pop culture has been to watch Star Trek icon William Shatner morph from an overacting, self-serious stick in the mud into a goofy celebrity who begrudgingly accepts that it's better to play along with his peculiar kind of fame rather than resist it. The 94-year-old comes full circle with this ad for Raisin Bran that deftly spoofs both the result of eating all that fiber, Shatner's roots in science fiction and the scatological word game people likely have played with his last name for eons, introducing him in the commercial as a character named Will Shat. My favorite moment: when he looks over at a pet and asks, "Is that dog a Shih Tzu?" As a bonus, the Shat-man even made news in real life, when paparazzi thought he was eating a bowl of cereal while driving (he was actually posing for a photo shoot.)

Most touching reference to Big Brother: Ring's 'Search Party: Be a Hero'

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Tell people that video doorbell company Ring can remotely link a bunch of cameras to look for something, and many may wonder if they've stumbled into a George Orwell novel. But show people how Ring cameras can be tasked to help find some of the 10 million dogs who go missing every year — using its new, free Search Party feature — and you have a teary, sentimental spot for the Big Game that pulls on the heartstrings while downplaying any concerns about Big Brother invading their privacy (fear not, Search Party is a program you have to opt into).

Best argument to Hollywood for using AI: Xfinity's 'Jurassic Park … Works'

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Cool as it is to suggest that one tech geek from Xfinity could have kept all the dinosaurs from escaping Jurassic Park, the telecommunication company went one better in this ad – basically showing the potential for de-aging and computerized imagery in film by creating new scenes for the 1993 movie featuring stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. In Xfinity's new spot, they're jogging with herds of dinosaurs and posing for pictures with a T. rex instead of running for their lives. Of course, a happy ending invalidates the film's whole "egotistical man shouldn't meddle with natural ecosystems he doesn't understand" message. But it will probably sell an awful lot of Wi-Fi service.

Best use of a self-deprecating celebrity, Part 2: TurboTax's 'The Expert'

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Adrien's Brody's over the top antics while portraying a TurboTax expert – despite the company's insistence that the program helps keep taxes "drama free" — is a delicious send-up of his own self-serious reputation. (My fave moment is when he screeches "If there's no drama, then there's no Adrien Brody!") It's almost enough to make you forget the record-setting arrogance of his way-too-long best actor acceptance speech at last year's Oscars ceremony. Almost.

Best headfake around men's silly sensibilities: Novartis' 'Relax Your Tight End'

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What's the best way to let men know there's now a less, um, invasive way of checking for prostate cancer than the old school finger method? This commercial, featuring football heroes like former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians urges men to relax their tight end — complete with shots that seem to depict that relaxation — thanks to the invention of a blood test to check for early signs. It's all a bit of cheeky good fun — OK, I couldn't resist that one — aimed at getting men to get over their hangups and get tested regularly for a disease that has an impressive survival rate if caught early.

Best use of class warfare: Hims & Hers' 'Rich People Live Longer'

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Fresh off a controversy from last year, which found the telehealth company criticized for not being fully transparent about the side effects of its weight loss drugs, Hims & Hers is back with a spot that declares "the wealth gap is a health gap." Rapper and actor Common provides the voice-over for this spot, which shows wealthy people accessing all kinds of treatments and preventive care as the narration notes, "all that money doesn't just buy more stuff — it buys more time." Watching a big corporation spend millions pitching its products as an affordable way to bridge that gap, at a time when medical expenses are one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the U.S., feels a little odd. But it's also a stroke of genius.

Best parody of a competitor: Pepsi's 'The Choice'

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This spot, starting with a computer-generated polar bear getting confused after picking Pepsi over Coca-Cola in a blindfolded taste test, works in all kinds of ways. It pokes at Coke's longtime use of computerized bears in its own Big Game ads back in the day while indulging a bit of nostalgia. Extra points for a moment later in the ad that references the infamous Coldplay kiss cam incident and a cool cameo from impish director Taika Waititi.

Most questionable joke: DoorDash's 'Beef 101'

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In the ad, 50 Cent presents the latest iteration of his beef with Sean "P Diddy/Puff Daddy" Combs as an epic exercise in tongue-in-cheek trolling. He reaches into a DoorDash pouch to pull out a bag of Cheesy Puffs, a pack of combs and a bottle of cognac he says is "aged four years … or 50 months. Who's keeping count?" But I bet Combs, now sitting in federal prison after his conviction on prostitution-related charges, surely is. And those who recall the allegations of sex crimes and abuse which surrounded the Combs trial, might not find a commercial seeking laughs by referencing that traumatic situation to be much fun at all.

Most shameless pandering to bro culture: Bud Light's 'Keg'

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Football legend Peyton Manning, comic Shane Gillis and musician Post Malone seem mostly wasted in a nonsensical ad featuring an entire wedding party tumbling down a steep hill in pursuit of a single keg that fell off a dolly. Gillis gets the punchline, turning to the camera to say, "I give it a week," presumably in reference to the wedding. I'm betting most viewers forget about this uninspired ad even quicker.

Best use of a conspiracy theory I might actually believe: Uber Eats: 'Hungry for the Truth'

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This spot continues the concept Uber Eats floated in last year's Super Bowl ad, featuring Matthew McConaughey insisting the NFL organized this whole professional football thing as a ruse to sell more food. This time, he's torturing poor fellow movie star hunk Bradley Cooper — who mostly looks like he just wants to be seen wearing gear featuring his beloved Philadelphia Eagles — pointing out all the NFL players named after food. But when he shows Cooper that the NFL Hall of Fame building looks just like a juicer — gotta say, I was nearly convinced.