The Brief

David Huerta, who leads the powerful Service Employees International Union California, was released from custody on Monday after his arrest during a downtown L.A. immigration raid set off a firestorm.

His arrest on Friday happened during confrontations with federal immigration agents, one of several that have extended through the weekend, resulting in multiple arrests.

Over the weekend, calls for his release grew louder from a chorus that included elected officials and hundreds of people who gathered for a demonstration on Monday.

Demonstrators call for the release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-USWW, who was arrested on June 6 during federal immigration operations, at Gloria Molina Grand Park in Los Angeles, on June 9, 2025.

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Here's where things stand:

• Huerta appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Monday afternoon. He was released from custody on $50,000 bond. An arraignment is scheduled for July 7, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
  
• Huerta has been charged with conspiracy to impede an officer after showing up to a workplace where federal authorities were executing a warrant, according to a federal complaint.
  
• The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
  
• The union said Huerta was arrested while exercising his First Amendment right to document law enforcement. California politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have denounced the arrest.
  
• U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff wrote a letter demanding the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice review the incident.
  
• More than 1,000 people showed up at a rally Monday in downtown L.A. to demand Huerta's release.
  

Why it matters

Huerta was held at Metropolitan Detention Center Los Angeles, the site of numerous protests on Saturday and Sunday in reaction to the immigration raids. He was injured during his arrest and treated at a hospital while in federal custody, according to SEIU.

"What happened to me is not about me; This is about something much bigger," Huerta said in a statement. "This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening."

ICE agents detained dozens of people in the raids across L.A., prompting fear, anger and resistance from onlookers and immigrant rights groups. Many of the protesters were peaceful, but there were also reports of people shooting fireworks at agents and officers.

A protester displays a poster as tear gas is used in the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.

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LAPD and California Highway Patrol officers showed up to move people away from the federal buildings and off the 101 Freeway near downtown on Sunday.

Some people were seen throwing objects at law enforcement and damaging property, including spray-painting and shattering windows at the downtown Civic Center and elsewhere. A group of Waymo autonomous taxis were vandalized and set on fire. There were also reports of law enforcement shooting people in the crowd with what's known as less lethal weapons, including rubber projectiles.

As of Monday, the Los Angeles Police Department said it had arrested 50 people in connection with the protests over the weekend. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said it had made five arrests, and California Highway Patrol made 19 arrests.

Huerta speaks

After his release from custody, Huerta spoke to supporters and media outside the courthouse. Standing shoeless and carrying a pile of papers with notes from his detention, he thanked his family members, as well as his "labor family" for backing him.

Huerta said he thought the Trump administration would likely try to make an example out of his case.

" I'm prepared to take on that journey," he said. "But I won't face it alone because I know my family and my community is with me."

He spoke at length about many people he met while in custody, including a man who was brought to the U.S. when he was 2 weeks old and didn't know he was an unauthorized immigrant until he was "well into his adulthood." Huerta said the man told him he was stabbed after he was deported to Mexico the first time and is afraid to go back.

"He doesn't see Mexico as his home," Huerta said of the man. "This is the only home he's known since he was 2 weeks old."

He also stressed a need for non-violence as the protests against ICE continue.

Earlier in the day, speakers at the rally in support of Huerta talked about his support of janitors, many of them immigrant workers, in the state of California.

"He's been on the front line for justice for his entire life, fighting for justice and fighting for immigrants," said Yvonne Wheeler, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Huerta is president of SEIU California and United Service Workers West. SEIU California represents 750,000 workers in California.

Anton Farmby, vice president of SEIU, said Huerta had been a labor leader at the union for 29 years and had been pivotal in bringing Black and Brown communities together.

"Regardless of what happened with David, regardless of what's happening here today, we're going to continue to be the voice for working people and continue to speak out around things that not only impact the immigrant community but also for workers in the labor movement," Farmby said.

The context

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said she was aware of five recent ICE raids in the region, including two within the city of L.A. Local protests followed in downtown L.A. and the cities of Paramount and Compton.

Monday was the fourth day of the protests.

President Donald Trump has said during his campaign and after his election that he planned to use federal resources to carry out "mass deportations" of unauthorized immigrants across the U.S.

In Los Angeles, fear and tension has been high as residents and advocacy groups braced for possible ICE raids.

Friday appeared to be the first large-scale ICE operation in L.A. County, and it prompted a swift response from protesters.

Huerta was among them.

Tensions also spiked that day and over the weekend between state and local authorities and the Trump administration, particularly after the president activated 2,000 National Guard troops in L.A. despite objections from Newsom and Bass, who said the move was unnecessary and would only escalate the already tense situation.

Newsom on Sunday formally called for Trump to rescind the deployment. A day later, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the state was filing a lawsuit against the administration over the deployment.

Bonta said at a news conference that Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ignored law enforcement's expertise and guidance, trampled over the state's sovereignty and unlawfully invoked a statute that's intended to prevent an invasion or rebellion even though that was not the case in Los Angeles.

"Trump and Hegseth jumped from zero to 60, bypassing law enforcement expertise and evaluation," Bonta said. "They threw caution to the wind and sidelined strategy in an unnecessary and inflammatory escalation that only further spurred unrest."

Bonta said California is seeking a declaration from the court that Trump "federalizing" the National Guard and deploying them in L.A. was unlawful and an injunction.

Bonta said this is the 24th lawsuit the state has filed against the Trump administration.

NPR confirmed Monday that 700 Marines were being sent in response to the protests in Los Angeles in a support role.

L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement that the arrival of the Marines, without coordination with local law enforcement, presents "significant" logistical and operational challenges.

“The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, has decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively," the statement read. "That said, our top priority is the safety of both the public and the officers on the ground.

"We are urging open and continuous lines of communication between all agencies to prevent confusion, avoid escalation, and ensure a coordinated, lawful, and orderly response during this critical time.”

Both McDonnell and Bass spoke at a news conference Monday evening. Bass said nothing warranted the raids, and that she believes Los Angeles is being used as a test case "for what happens when the federal government moves in and take the authority away from the state or away from local government."

How we're reporting on this

LAist reporters have been in scene where the protests and confrontations have taken place. Reporters Aaron Schrank and Libby Rainey were at a rally Gloria Molina Grand Park in Los Angeles where members of SEIU and others called for an end to the ICE raids and the release of Huerta.

The reporters also were in federal court for Huertas first appearance, and heard from Huerta and his attorneys after his release.

This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials and reporters on the ground). Sometimes, however, we make mistakes and/or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.

Learn more

• Protesters clash with law enforcement in downtown LA. Hundreds march against Trump's immigration sweeps
  
• Officials name 12 ICE arrestees; at least two appear to have been in custody before raids
  
• As ICE agents enter LA communities, here's what the law says about civil rights — regardless of immigration status

LAist reporter Vitas Larrieu contributed to this report.

The story first appeared on The LA Local.

5:18 p.m. Wednesday, May 6: This story has been updated with additional details.

Federal agents swarmed MacArthur Park on Wednesday afternoon in a joint operation targeted at suspected drug dealers.

Agents also searched six businesses in the Westlake neighborhood and said that at least 18 people were arrested as part of the investigation, which was called “Operation Free MacArthur Park.”

The suspects are allegedly tied to distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine out of the park, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Agents also raided a home in Calabasas and found 40 pounds of fentanyl believed to be part of the network of drugs distributed to MacArthur Park, according to authorities.

Agents in tactical gear and armored vehicles rolled through the neighborhood shortly after 2 p.m., according to images shared over social media, and an agent used a large saw to cut through a metal security door at a business storefront on Alvarado Street, NBC News reported.

The investigation included six businesses in Westlake and a federal indictment names 25 people, with several who have not been found.

Authorities arrested 18 people in connection to suspected drug trafficking in and around MacArthur Park. The suspects were identified in a news conference Wednesday by federal authorities.

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The raids began Tuesday evening and are expected to continue, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced during a press conference outside the park.

He was flanked by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Los Angeles Police Department. Armored vehicles lined Alvarado Street and more agents in tactical gear stood under the shade of a nearby tree.

“We’re not leaving,” Essayli said. “We’ll come back as many times as we need to.”

The Los Angeles Police Department announced it provided assistance to its federal partners and clarified the investigation was not related to immigration enforcement.

Anthony Chrysanthis, special agent in charge for the DEA’s field office in Los Angeles, reiterated that the federal agency will return to Westlake.

“We will be watching this place every day, all the time. We’ve been gathering evidence for 60 days,” Chrysanthis said. “Privately, we get phone calls every day. ‘What are you doing about this?’ So, if you live in an area where you see drug activity, you can plan a friendly visit from law enforcement.”

Chrysanthis said the operation at the park was chosen because “this place is symbolic to Los Angeles.”

“The communities have to go back to the people. We have to make our city safe again for all people in Los Angeles. So today the message starts,” he said.

Troy Feller, volunteer with the faith-based organization Dream Center, was handing out lunch to people in the park when agents arrived. Feller saw police and agents wearing tactical gear pull up to the park.

“They started wrapping up the area really quickly. We’re out here every week and we have never seen something like this,” Feller said.

By 4:30 p.m. the road closures around the park reopened. A vendor swept up the sidewalk around their stall. Boxes of aspirin, back pain ointment and fake eyelashes spilled onto the sidewalk, along with broken glass.

A hole cut through the metal security door was visible from the sidewalk where an agent used a saw to cut into the vendor’s stall. Boxes of Monistat and Neosporin hung from inside the stall.

Araceli Arrega said she found out about the raid from the news coverage of the federal raid.

“I found out on TV they were cutting up my store. We don’t sell drugs here. I sell creams and medicine,” Arrega said. “They didn’t find anything. I can’t open my store until I fix my door.”

Aura Garcia, who owns Vitamins and Plus next to Arrega’s store, said law enforcement officers went to her daughter’s home and took her into custody. Garcia said officers also handcuffed her 13-year-old granddaughter in the process.

Garcia is still uncertain about whether the arrest is related to the federal operation. Their store was raided Wednesday, but she reiterated that they do not sell drugs.

Susana Cruz, an employee at the market La Bendición de Dios near Alvarado and Sixth said, “They thought that we sold drugs here, but they didn’t find anything.”

Cruz said federal agents raided the market and threw all the products to the floor, which includes creams and other pharmaceutical items. Agents also pulled down a security camera at the market.

Jose Ramirez, a street vendor on Sixth and Alvarado said, watched the aftermath of the raid from the sidewalk.

“I don’t know if this is all for show, but this made people afraid and the businesses that are barely surviving, I don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” he said. “There’s other ways to combat drug trafficking. I don’t know what the mayor is thinking.”

Others in the neighborhood said they support the operation in response to the ongoing drug use at the park.

Victoria Sykes, has lived in the neighborhood for the past five years and has been visiting the area for at least two decades.

“I’ve seen people dealing drugs here on Alvarado and I personally support what happened here today because I think drugs should leave this neighborhood. It’s not safe. We need to clean it up,” Sykes said.

The federal indictment names several people, including Mallaly Moreno-Lopez, 31, and Jackson Tarfur, 28, who are both from the Westmont neighborhood in South Los Angeles. Authorities claim that the couple hand-delivered drugs to storefronts and dealers street-level dealers. Federal documents detail 27 drug deals of fentanyl and methamphetamine from March 9 to April 15 in and around MacArthur Park.

The indictment references multiple street gangs, including 18th Street. Chrysanthis with the DEA said the operation is intended to send a message to the drug traffickers who operate out of the park.

“This is our park. This park belongs to the people of Los Angeles and to anyone who wants to sell drugs, I want them to look around because at any day we can come back and take it,” he said.

When asked why the operation took place now, Chrysanthis said, “FIFA is coming. The Super Bowl is coming. The Olympics are coming. It’s time to give the community back to the people of LA.”

Los Angeles city streets will worsen and repairing them will become more expensive unless the city overhauls its approach to maintenance, according to a report from transportation advocacy group Streets For All.

“We’re looking towards a dire future for the streets of Los Angeles if we continue on the status quo,” said Josh Vredevoogd, who heads creative and research for the organization that spearheaded Measure HLA and co-authored the report published in late April.

The critical condition that L.A.’s streets could find themselves in is the result of underinvestment, opting for smaller-scale treatments and delaying compliance with long-standing federal accessibility laws, according to the report.

One of the potential solutions the report names is changing the city’s charter to mandate a five-year infrastructure plan, and that’s the option local leaders have recently angled toward too.

The context behind the report

The Streets For All report picks up on questions that surfaced late last year when transportation advocates noticed the city had halted resurfacing, which treats a street from curb to curb. While some resurfacing has since resumed, the Bureau of Street Services estimates its current budget will only allow 60 lane miles of resurfacing this fiscal year compared to more than 300 lane miles the prior year.

Part of the reason, city officials have said, is the high price of installing curb ramps. According to federal guidelines, curb ramps must be installed in compliance with ADA standards before a road is resurfaced. They come with a high price tag at $50,000 per curb ramp, according to Streets For All.

The city has instead prioritized “large asphalt repairs” this year. That’s a method of patching when there are structural failures like potholes or extensive cracking, "but the entire street doesn't yet need full resurfacing,” said Dan Halden, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Street Services.

By opting for large asphalt repairs, “City lawyers believe ADA repair requirements are not triggered,” Streets For All’s report says.

The report’s findings 

The group's report says that large asphalt repairs end up costing more per square foot than resurfacing, lead to more expensive repairs later and don’t result in any meaningful improvement to street condition.

Halden said large asphalt repairs are a “standard practice in pavement management.”

The report estimates that by not keeping up with curb ramp standards, L.A. will need to spend $4 billion to address its estimated 80,000 ramp backlog.

How does charter reform fit into this?

For years, advocates, namely Jessica Meaney of Investing in Place, have called on the city to create a long-term infrastructure development and maintenance plan, something major cities throughout the U.S. already have.

Vredevoogd said such a plan, known officially as a Capital Infrastructure Program, could include a streamlined method of street maintenance.

“They repave the street. They fix all the curb ramps. They put in new trees. They add Vision Zero improvements,” he said. “That’s what you see happening with more functional Public Works programs in other cities.”

Earlier this week, Mayor Karen Bass released a Capital Infrastructure Program focused on projects for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games. Bass’ plan is a one-off, though, and long-term infrastructure planning and budgeting isn’t part of the regular course of city business.

One of the recommendations that came out of the Charter Reform Committee earlier this year is to codify the creation of a five-year-long Capital Infrastructure Program in the city charter. If it succeeds, that recommendation would make a plan similar to what Bass released as part of the regular process of planning and budgeting.

The commission also recommended creating a director of Public Works position that would oversee and implement infrastructure planning.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez is the head of the city’s Public Works committee.

Her spokesperson, Chelsea Lucktenberg, said the councilmember sees charter reform “as a key part of the solution” to address the problems identified in Streets For All’s report, including how “our system is set up to prioritize short-term fixes over long-term maintenance.”

What’s happening in the shorter term?

Bass’ office said the mayor’s proposed budget for next fiscal year increases funding for the city’s pavement preservation program by 21% and includes a 45% increase specifically for access ramps.

Councilmembers Hernandez and Katy Yaroslavsky put forward a motion at the end of March asking city departments for an analysis of curb ramp construction, including a comparison with comparable jurisdictions.

Halden, the Bureau of Street Services spokesperson, said the city is “on track” to install 300 curb ramps by this summer, when the current fiscal year ends.

While officials are not concerned about an immediate oil shortfall, California consumers are likely to see another price hike in the coming weeks as the war in Iran strains the global market, lawmakers said on Tuesday at a hearing about the uncertain future of the state’s fuel supply.

The hearing came after the final oil tanker to pass through the Strait of Hormuz arrived at the Port of Long Beach this week — the last shipment from the Middle East expected to reach California for the foreseeable future.

“When this tanker is empty, it’s unclear where the next replacement ship will be coming from,” said Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, and Utilities and Energy Committee chair at Tuesday’s hearing.

Californians have been feeling the pain at the pump since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran spiked crude oil prices around the world. Today, drivers pay about $6.13 per gallon compared to the national average of $4.48, according to AAA.

While officials do not foresee California running out of oil, consumers should brace for additional price increases.

High gas prices are listed at a Chevron gas station in Los Angeles on March 9, 2026, as gasoline prices surge amid the ongoing war with Iran.

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“Based on what we’re hearing from the industry and what we have heard, the pricing will move molecules towards California, but it will come at a price,” Siva Gunda, vice chair of the California Energy Commission, said.

Gunda said the costs will come from a bidding war to divert oil from Asian markets to the West Coast.

Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, a California Energy Commission spokesperson said in a statement that the price spike is due to “the rapid escalation of crude oil prices because of the Iran War. These elevated prices are not unique to California, and prices are continuing to rise globally.”

However, Jamie Court, the head of Consumer Watchdog, a consumer protection group, said that California legislators, along with the state’s oil refiners, should take more responsibility for high prices. In a statement, Consumer Watchdog said oil refiners have been taking advantage of the current war to make record oil-refining profits, and Court said California Gov. Gavin Newsom “chickened out” of price gouging regulation.

“Trump can be responsible for about 70 cents of this because of the crude oil increase, but the rest of the two extra dollars we’re paying at the pump … are on Newsom,” Court said.

Severin Borenstein, professor and faculty director of The Energy Institute, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, said in the public hearing that the recent spike is just one part of a larger trend.

While higher gasoline taxes and stronger environmental regulations in California play a role in the comparatively high prices — adding about $0.72 per gallon in taxes and $0.50 per gallon in environmental programs, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration — a refinery fire in Southern California in 2015 led to a “mystery gasoline surcharge” driving up prices. Bornstein said this adds about $0.50 per gallon, on top of oil and refining costs.

The Commission’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight said in the hearing that it’s also taken steps to deal with “branded” retailers like Chevron that have been overcharging California consumers at the pump.

“Everyone should be getting their gas at the generic brands,” Petrie-Norris said.

KQED’s Sara Hossaini contributed to this report.

Following a year-long inquiry into the admissions policies and practices at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice alleges that school leadership “intentionally selected applicants based on their race,” to the detriment of white and Asian applicants.

“UCLA’s admissions process has been focused on racial demographics at the expense of merit and excellence — allowing racial politics to distract the school from the vital work of training great doctors,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, an assistant attorney general for the DOJ.

In a statement, an unnamed UCLA spokesperson responded that the medical school is complying with all federal and state laws.

“The admissions process at [the] David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is based on merit and grounded in a rigorous, comprehensive review of each applicant. We are confident in our practices and our mission to maintain access to a high-quality education to all qualified students,” the statement said.

How does UCLA admit medical students?

The school’s website lists the following criteria:

• Undergraduate record
• Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores
• Letters of recommendation
• Graduate record (where applicable)
• Life experiences (research, volunteerism, clinical, work, leadership, publications)
• Admission interviews
• AAMC PREview Exam scores (for Traditional MD Program Track applicants only)

The DOJ investigation focused on three items: median GPA scores, MCAT scores and the PREview Exam.

What does the DOJ say about academic scores?

The report looks at median GPA and found that based on materials provided to the DOJ, the scores for some applicant groups were lower than others for the 2023 and 2024 admitted classes. Here’s 2023:

How does race matter in the medical field?

The DOJ investigation also takes issue with “a theory that increasing ‘diversity’ of the healthcare workforce will improve healthcare outcomes for Black and Hispanic patients” that it says was promoted by the program’s director showing an “intent to racially discriminate under the guise of saving lives and conceal her true motive to treat certain applicants unfavorably based on their race.”

The investigation also looks at the PREview Exam, which it says asks open-ended questions about whether applicants are from marginalized backgrounds. “By design, this question asks Black and Hispanic applicants to reveal their race so that DGSOM can know and consider it.”

A number of studies suggest that when patients have doctors of the same race (called “concordance”) it leads to better medical results. A 2018 study of Black men in Oakland suggested doctors and same-race patients had better communication that led to better outcomes, and a 2025 study out of UCLA found Hispanic Medicare patients had a lower readmission rate and length of stay when treated by Hispanic doctors.

What is the Trump administration looking for?

In a press release, the department noted that “medical schools use substantial federal financial assistance to train the next generation of doctors,” and that this fuels its “focus on eradicating illegal race politics from admissions at medical schools.”

Still, the administration has also curtailed that funding. Last year, the Republican-backed “big, beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump signed into law capped federal debt for professional degree students—a move that could push students to borrow from private lenders, which provide far fewer protections for loan repayment and don’t offer loan forgiveness.

A history of lawsuits between Trump and UCLA

The Department of Justice has repeatedly gone after the University of California in Trump’s second term. Earlier this year, the department sued the university over allegations that UCLA officials allowed antisemitism on campus, and unsuccessfully demanded a range of concessions to bring UCLA more in line with its ideology, in addition to more than $1 billion in fines. The administration also tried to freeze the university’s research funding, prompting an effort to have the state of California be a backstop.

What happens now?

The DOJ says it wants to find an agreement with the university “to ensure that admissions practices are brought into legal compliance.” A UCLA spokesperson said the university is reviewing the report, but did not outline next steps.

Disclosure: Julia Barajas is a part-time graduate student at UCLA Law.