Topline:
This presidential campaign, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have been repeating the false narrative that Democrats are purposefully letting migrants into the country so they will vote.
Why it matters: There’s no evidence for the claim, which echoes a racist conspiracy theory known as the "great replacement."
Keep reading... for six things to know about the false narratives circulating.
This presidential campaign, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have been repeating the false narrative that Democrats are purposefully letting migrants into the country so they will vote.
There’s no evidence for the claim, which echoes a racist conspiracy theory known as the "great replacement."
In fact, allegations about voter fraud and noncitizens have been floating around American politics for more than a century.
The GOP has made it a legislative priority to update federal law to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal races. Opponents point out that millions of eligible voters — about 1 in 10 adult U.S. citizens, according to one recent survey — don’t have ready access to documents that prove their citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, and would face hurdles to vote.
Here are six things to know about the false narratives circulating.
Go to LAist.com/Vote for everything you need to get ready for Nov. 5, including:
It’s illegal for people who are not U.S. citizens to vote in federal or state elections. And the federal voter registration form asks registrants to affirm, under penalty of perjury, that they are eligible citizens. The form warns those who make false statements could be fined, imprisoned or deported. Noncitizens who register to vote can also lose the ability to ever become U.S. citizens.
Voting rights advocates say these penalties have worked as effective deterrents. "Anybody who is on a green card or attempting to get citizenship in America, they are not trying to be arrested or to be tossed out of the country," said Sylvia Albert, the director of voting and elections for Common Cause.
Election officials regularly verify voter registration information and remove ineligible voters from voter rolls. Some states verify citizenship by cross-checking voter information with other databases, such as state motor vehicle data or the federal SAVE database. Election officials must be careful not to mistakenly remove eligible voters from voter rolls, since some databases may be outdated and may not show if an immigrant has become a naturalized citizen. Such errors resulted in large numbers of eligible citizens wrongly flagged for removal in Texas in 2019.
After the 2016 election, the Brennan Center for Justice, which advocates for voting rights, surveyed local election officials in 42 jurisdictions with high immigrant populations and found just 30 cases of suspected noncitizens voting out of 23.5 million votes cast, or 0.0001%.
The Brennan Center survey did not include North Carolina, where a state audit after the 2016 election found 41 cases of green card holders who voted out of nearly 4.8 million votes in the state. The same report said many of the noncitizen voters had been misinformed that they could vote.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger launched an audit in 2022 that found over the previous 25 years, fewer than 1,700 people believed to be noncitizens had attempted to register to vote. None were able to cast ballots.
After a federal trial last year over Arizona’s documentary proof of citizenship laws, the federal judge concluded, "though it may occur, non-citizens voting in Arizona is quite rare, and non-citizen voter fraud in Arizona is rarer still."
While the conservative Heritage Foundation has actively promoted claims about the risk of noncitizens voting this campaign season, its own data suggests how rare these cases are. The Washington Post reviewed a Heritage database of voter fraud cases and found 85 cases relating to allegations of noncitizens voting between 2002 and 2023.
The American Immigration Council, which advocates for immigrant rights, also analyzed the Heritage data and found most noncitizen voting cases involve legal immigrants and many had been incorrectly told they could vote. That analysis found only 10 cases involving undocumented immigrants since the 1980s. Heritage has said the database is just a sampling of fraud cases and is not comprehensive.
A widely contested 2014 paper by researchers at Old Dominion University has fueled exaggerated claims about noncitizen voting rates. The study, which was led by political scientist Jesse Richman, drew its conclusions from an online survey known as the Cooperative Election Survey. A small number of respondents had indicated they were noncitizens and that they had voted. Richman’s paper used that data to estimate that 6.4% of noncitizens voted in 2008.
But that estimate immediately came under fire. The developers of the CES survey wrote a rebuttal, detailing how Richman’s research was methodologically unsound because the small subset of people who reported being noncitizen voters could easily have been citizens who had simply selected the wrong box.
Nevertheless, Trump seized on and distorted Richman’s estimates to fuel false claims in 2016 that millions of noncitizens had illegally voted. In the aftermath, some 200 fellow political scientists wrote an open letter rejecting the 2014 paper. That didn’t stop the website Just Facts from publishing a report in May based on the paper’s discredited estimates. That report made the disputed claim that 10% to 27% of noncitizens are illegally registered to vote, which went viral on X and was cited in congressional testimony.
Richman has since revised down his estimate for national noncitizen voter registration rates to just under 1%, and participation to half a percent.
Washington, D.C., and a small number of municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont do allow noncitizens to vote in some local elections, such as city council or school board races. But so far, turnout has been low from this population. Noncitizens are still barred from voting in federal and state elections in all of these places, and there are systems in place to ensure they do not receive ballots for those other races.
One false narrative this campaign season suggests that the people who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Biden administration can quickly become citizens and vote legally. But the vast majority of migrants have no path to citizenship. For the minority who will ultimately be granted asylum, it often takes more than a decade from the time they enter the country to go through all the steps to win their cases and ultimately naturalize. Furthermore, changes to asylum protocols during the Biden administration have made it harder to pursue asylum in this country and eventually become a citizen.
By focusing on baseless allegations about noncitizens voting in the upcoming election, Trump and his allies appear to be laying the groundwork for potentially contesting the election.
"You can absolutely bet if Trump loses, he will claim there was widespread noncitizen voting without any evidence whatsoever," David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told NPR last month. "And that is going to incite anger and potentially violence."
Copyright 2024 NPR
Topline:
The Naples Improvement Association announced Saturday that this year’s Naples Island Holiday Boat Parade, a Long Beach tradition since 1946, has been canceled because of expected high tides and heavy surf that organizers said would make the event too unsafe for visitors and participants.
Why it matters: It’s the first time in six years — since the onset of the COVID pandemic — that the parade has been canceled.
Background: What began as a small procession of decorated barges filled with singing church choirs has grown into an institution in Long Beach with more than 100 entries, from Duffys to dragon boats, and 60,000 spectators.
Expect silent nights in Naples’ channels this holiday season.
The Naples Improvement Association announced Saturday that this year’s Naples Island Holiday Boat Parade, a Long Beach tradition since 1946, has been canceled because of expected high tides and heavy surf that organizers said would make the event too unsafe for visitors and participants.
It’s the first time in six years — since the onset of the COVID pandemic — that the parade has been canceled. What began as a small procession of decorated barges filled with singing church choirs has grown into an institution in Long Beach with more than 100 entries, from Duffys to dragon boats, and 60,000 spectators.
Ben Fisher, the association president, said the decision came after weeks of deliberations and a 600-respondent poll that found most wanted the parade — and all holiday events in Naples — to be canceled this year.
Forecasters expect a powerful El Niño season that will raise tides 6 to 18 inches above typical levels. This is paired with a series of slow, very wide swells of warm water known as Kelvin waves expected to frequent Long Beach’s southern-facing coast this winter.
During the week of Christmas, tides are expected to reach 7.5 to 8.5 feet, with the highest forecast to arrive in the mornings and peaking around Christmas Eve.
Part of the decision was also tied to ongoing frustrations with the city, which Fisher said has failed to address the island’s deteriorating infrastructure, from its aging seawall to underperforming drainage systems, that make it “too unsafe to draw tens of thousands of people to visit Naples this holiday season.”
“The city has told us to sandbag everything (public and private property); docks and gangways are being dismantled and sawed off however each individual owner sees fit; and the seawalls themselves are crumbling with exposed, rusted and sharp rebar in many places along the canals where many families normally would sit on any given holiday evening,” Mr. Fisher wrote.
For decades, the seawall has shielded multimillion-dollar homes and fortified the man-made canal that loops around the island. The city evaluated the structure in 2009 and found it in significant disrepair. A six-phase repair plan is underway, but only two phases are complete.
City officials have said they need $125 million to finish replacing the aging seawall, and they have halted reconstruction amid shrinking oil revenue and an uncertain future for federal disaster aid. Among the options under consideration is a 30-year bond spread across the whole neighborhood that would cost $5,100 per property annually. If limited to homes along the seawalls, it would cost $48,000 per property.
In a statement Saturday, council member Kristina Duggan, whose district includes Naples, said she respected the decision and added that the focus this winter should be on preparing the island for the upcoming weather. While the seawalls are stable under high tidal pressure, she said, maintenance work will “start next week to seal cold joints and help reduce water seepage.”
“We are encouraging everyone to prepare, and we look forward to seeing the Naples Boat Parade return next year,” Duggan wrote.
When high tides arrive, water already spills over the seawalls in some spots, reaching nearly two feet deep, flooding sidewalks and threatening homes. Residents and officials disagree over whether to prioritize coastal protection or recreational amenities.
The money normally spent on the parade will go instead toward pumps, hoses, plugs and generators, Fisher said, “resources our waterways and neighbors desperately need.”
Whether residents decorate their homes this year, he said, is up to them.
Topline:
Protesters gathered at White Memorial early today as masked federal agents held a blockade outside the hospital’s emergency room entrance for hours.
Why now: Protesters gathered after federal immigration agents mounted a blockade at the emergency room entrance and detained at least two people outside the hospital.
What's next: Community organizers and elected officials on Saturday handed off a letter to the hospital’s administrators, calling for an end to any collaboration between the hospital and federal immigration agents. Daniel Fontoura, president at Adventist Health White Memorial, said the hospital staff does not work with federal immigration agents.
Crowds gathered at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights on Saturday for a rally and march to Adventist Health White Memorial after federal immigration agents mounted a blockade at the emergency room entrance and detained at least two people outside the hospital.
Community organizers and elected officials on Saturday handed off a letter to the hospital’s administrators, calling for an end to any collaboration between the hospital and federal immigration agents.
Sen. Maria Elena Durazo said that it appears the hospital is earning a reputation for being an “ICE-friendly hospital.”
“What happened last night was unacceptable,” Durazo told the hospital’s administrators in the same parking lot where the blockade was held. “It’s unacceptable that ICE would go into our healthcare facilities. But we also believe that White Memorial can and should do more.”
Several hours earlier, patients arriving at the hospital were met by a large presence of masked agents who stood outside the hospital starting Friday evening and into the early hours of Saturday. Ambulances were diverted to nearby hospitals for about two hours while the activity took place.
Local residents and rapid response groups were kept away from the hospital and in multiple videos shared on social media, masked agents pushed away protesters and sprayed them with what appeared to be pepper spray.
The series of events began after eyewitnesses said they saw federal agents detain a person and take them into the hospital before a crowd of protesters came to rally against the ICE agents, according to Raquel Roman, executive director of Proyecto Pastoral and member of the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network.
Saturday’s rally, organized by the local rapid response group, started at Mariachi Plaza and coincided with a Dia de los Muertos celebration. People marched with signs that read “Protect the Sacred” and “Melt ICE” while others wore La Catrina face paint.
Community members, Durazo, Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez and Mayor-elect Nithya Raman gathered outside the hospital around 2:30 p.m. with members of Proyecto Pastoral and Centro CSO to denounce the ICE activity that had taken place outside the emergency room.
Daniel Fontoura, president at Adventist Health White Memorial, said the hospital staff does not work with federal immigration agents.
“I don’t know what I can do to assure you there’s no special relationship, no special contract. When they show up, they show up,” Fontoura said, referring to the federal agents.
He added that the hospital would like to work with community organizations and elected officials to understand what they should do in these types of situations.
The LA Local was provided a copy of the letter handed to the hospital administrators. Durazo asks White Memorial leadership to provide a detailed account of what happened and determine why agents were allowed to block the ambulance entrance.
The letter also asks that the hospital “implement and enforce clear procedures” to block ICE agents from obstructing entrances and accessing patient rooms and to issue a public statement in English and Spanish “reaffirming the hospital’s unwavering commitment to caring for all patients, regardless of immigration status.”
The letter requests a written response from hospital leadership by Nov. 21.
“If these concerns remain unresolved, we will seek a review by the California Attorney General of White Memorial’s compliance with state law,” Durazo wrote in the letter.
The letter was signed by multiple community leaders and elected officials present at the rally.
Fontoura appeared flustered as he spoke to Durazo and the other officials. He told the crowd that hospital staff called 911 to try and stop the blockade. He was drowned out by people shouting, “Shame.”
Derek Mejia, 30, a police accountability co-chair at Centro CSO, joined the rally Saturday afternoon.
He was part of a group who gathered outside the hospital early Saturday morning after federal immigration agents detained two people. By that time, Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived at the scene and an LAPD helicopter circled the area, Mejia said.
“It’s a shame,” Mejia said of the incident.
Mejia said he was at the rally because, “One, we want to show ICE that we’re not afraid and two, we want to let White Memorial know that their collaboration with ICE is not only detrimental to the community but that it needs to stop.”
Verita Topete of Centro CSO, addressed the crowd at the rally. “White Memorial is endangering the same community they claim to serve,” she said.
“ICE out of L.A. ICE out of Boyle Heights. ICE out of California,” Topete chanted, and the crowd followed suit.
The group then marched back to Mariachi Plaza before dispersing around 3 p.m.
They were also joined by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, along with CHIRLA’s Executive Director Angelica Salas, union organizer David Huerta of SEIU and Father Brendan Busse with Dolores Mission Church.
Mayor Karen Bass did not atend the rally, but denounced the ICE activity and in a statement called “on the Trump Administration to stop all immigration enforcement in and around health care facilities. Hospital leadership also had a duty to step in right away to protect patients and neighbors, and by all appearances, that did not happen.”
Raman, who was elected L.A.’s next mayor, did attend the rally and thanked community members who showed up to protests ICE’s presence several hours earlier at the hospital. She said that as an immigrant herself, she has “felt the fear that so many across the city and across this country have felt … since these raids began.”
“What happened last night at this hospital was an affront to the wishes of the American people and to the people of Los Angeles,” Raman said.
As she left the rally, community members shouted at Raman to “fire the police chief.”
Throughout her mayoral campaign, Raman said she will attempt to replace LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell after criticizing the department’s handling of ICE enforcement, protests and sharing data with federal authorities, which Raman says is a violation of L.A.’s Sanctuary City policies.
The post Community, LA leaders denounce ICE activity at White Memorial appeared first on LA Local.
Topline:
President Donald Trump said today that he has offered the job of White House press secretary to his friend and UFC boss Dana White.
Details: Trump, while he was at his golf club in Florida, posted on social media that he made the offer to “the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior” to become the Republican president’s chief spokesperson.
Also: Trump said he requested that White bring along several UFC fighters as “assistants,” adding, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”
But: White, who was in London on today for a boxing event, was asked at a news conference about Trump's post and responded by saying that he planned to fly to Washington right after and meet with Trump on Monday.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has offered the job of White House press secretary to his friend and UFC boss Dana White, an announcement unconventional even for the norm-busting president. White said Saturday that he plans to meet with Trump on Monday at the White House.
Trump, while he was at his golf club in Florida, posted on social media that he made the offer to “the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior” to become the Republican president's chief spokesperson.
White, who was in London on Saturday for a boxing event, was asked at a news conference about Trump's post and responded by saying that he planned to fly to Washington right after and meet with Trump on Monday.
When asked how he would balance the job with the current positions he has in the fighting world, White seemed confused by the question and then said, “Yeah, I got a lot of jobs already.”
He declined to say what conversations he'd had with Trump but said, “I'm sure I'll have more to talk about after that.”
Before the news conference, the UFC head shared an image of Trump’s post on Instagram, along with an image of himself standing behind the podium in the White House press briefing room with the words “On to the next chapter.”
The White House and a spokesperson for the UFC did not respond Saturday to messages inquiring about the Truth Social post.
Trump said in his post that he requested that White bring along several UFC fighters as “assistants,” adding, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”
While White didn't make it clear if he was seriously considering the position of becoming the primary spokesperson for the president of the United States, he did elsewhere in his news conference describe his ambitions to expand the Zuffa Boxing organization he also runs with Saudi Arabian backers and hold more of its events around the world.
Trump's post came as his White House is in a period of major transition and struggling with his party's deep losses in Tuesday's midterm elections. The historic wins by Democratic candidates, including in areas that Republicans had held for decades, led to the GOP losing control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump on Friday announced he was replacing his longtime adviser Susie Wiles, who was seen as something of a tempering force on the president's impulses, with aide Stephen Miller to serve as the next chief of staff. Miller is known as the architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies and is among the most determined of Trump's inner circle.
The shake-up at the heart of his administration follows the brief but tumultuous week when Trump tried out a new press secretary in Katie Zacharia, who seemed uncomfortable in her sole appearance before reporters before leaving the job after five days.
The post had been vacant since Karoline Leavitt left at the end of August. Trump remains without a chief spokesperson.
Trump is close friends with White and has attended several UFC events with him since returning to the White House in January 2025.
He brought White and the sport to the White House’s South Lawn in June for the celebration of America’s 250th year of its independence and the president's own 80th birthday. A wire-mesh Octagon was constructed near the executive mansion under " The Claw,” a spaceship-like metal arch fitted with lights, sound equipment and large screens.
“It was an amazing experience, this was a one-of-one,” said White afterward.
White also spoke at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
Associated Press writers Daniel Gelston in Philadelphia and Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
Topline:
Federal immigration agents detained at least two people late last night outside Adventist White Memorial Hospital in Boyle Heights.
Why now: Protesters had gathered there after reports of immigration enforcement activity, according to rapid response groups, and remained at the hospital into early hours today.
What we know: It appears the incident began after people witnessed someone being detained and taken into the hospital, according to Raquel Roman, executive director of Proyecto Pastoral and member of the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network. The spurred a crowd of protesters to rally against ICE agents.
Keep reading ... for the latest.
Federal immigration agents detained at least two people late Friday outside Adventist White Memorial Hospital in Boyle Heights, where protesters had gathered after reports of immigration enforcement activity, according to rapid response groups. Protesters remained at the hospital into the early hours of Saturday, where immigration agents maintained a large presence.
It appears the incident began after people witnessed someone being detained and taken into the hospital, according to Raquel Roman, executive director of Proyecto Pastoral and member of the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network. That spurred a crowd of protesters to rally against ICE agents, who then detained two protesters who are U.S. citizens, Roman said.
ICE activity was also reported near Mariachi Plaza at 5:50 a.m. Saturday, according to witnesses, and outside the East LA Sheriff’s Station, where agents have been seen detaining people in the L.A. County-designated ICE-Free zone.
Video posted on social media appears to show one person being detained outside the hospital. In the video, at least three officers in tactical vests are seen detaining someone at the intersection of Boyle and Pennsylvania Avenues around 11:30 p.m.
A group of about six more officers in tactical vests and masks can be seen walking around the area as another, whose vest says “Police ICE,” yells at the person recording to “back up” and “do not impede with the arrest.”
“You’re arresting U.S. citizens,” the person recording says. “18 USC 111, they’re interfering,” the officer replies, referring to Title 18, Section 111 of the U.S. Code: Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees.
In the video, a bystander who says the person being arrested is his brother can be seen speaking to the officer.
“Your brother assaulted a federal agent. He’s being arrested for assaulting a federal agent; he’s coming with us,” the officer tells them.
Boyle Heights Beat reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for more information about the incident but has not yet received a response.
The Los Angeles Police Department was first called to the scene at 11:59 p.m. to respond to a “large group causing a disturbance,” according to LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman. LAPD responded again at 2:24 a.m. as crowds continued to gather outside of the hospital.
“Officers responded to maintain public safety and keep the peace. At no point did LAPD officers assist federal immigration authorities with enforcement activities or detain any individuals in connection with immigration enforcement,” Eisenman said.
Video posted on social media by Izzy Ramirez shows a line of agents blocking the emergency loading dock around 2:30 a.m. as a crowd continues to shout at the agents and make noise.
“It was horrible for the local community. The ICE presence was a lot more than I’ve seen it visibly before,” said Roman.
Japhet De Oliveira, corporate communications executive at Adventist Health, shared the following statement:
“Federal agents brought a person in their custody to our emergency department, and we cared for that patient with dignity and privacy, as we do for every patient. When agents formed a line across our ambulance entrance, which we did not request nor authorize, we diverted ambulances to nearby hospitals for about two hours to ensure every patient received timely care. White Memorial does not participate in immigration enforcement. We know last night frightened our neighbors. No matter what happens outside our doors, everyone who comes inside is our patient, and our focus will only be on that patient, and it will not change.”
Doctors at Adventist White Memorial last year reported that ICE agents were violating the privacy rights of detained patients and prohibiting contact with patients’ family members. While the hospital released guidelines to protect patients and support staff, doctors and advocates have said they fall short.
In October 2025, LAist's Jill Replogle reported that doctors at White Memorial hospital in Boyle Heights told her that hospital administrator directives allow federal immigration agents to interfere in medical decisions and block doctors from properly treating detainees who need emergency care.
Read the investigation: At a Boyle Heights hospital, ICE agents call the shots, doctors say
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, said she was “deeply troubled” by the reports overnight and demanded answers from hospital leadership. She said:
“I am calling on Adventist Health White Memorial to publicly disclose its agreements with ICE and end any voluntary medical-services contract with the agency. Every patient, including anyone in federal custody, must continue to receive appropriate, uninterrupted medical care. Hospital leadership must take immediate, concrete steps to protect patient privacy, support healthcare workers who advocate for their patients, and ensure that medical decisions remain with patients and their care teams.”
The Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network said it plans to lead a protest against ICE outside White Memorial at 2 p.m. Saturday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The post ICE detains two U.S. citizens protesting outside White Memorial Hospital, rapid response groups say appeared first on LA Local.