The Brief

Jennifer isn’t saying her brother is a saint. Far from it. He was convicted of domestic violence last year and entered a one-year intervention program. He graduated July 23 in a Fresno county courtroom where a judge told him he had done a good job.

Minutes later, while leaving the courthouse, five men and one woman in plain clothes approached him.

“Someone came up to him, got in his face and said his name,” said Jennifer, who did not want CalMatters to use her last name because she was concerned about immigration enforcement agents targeting other relatives. “And they grabbed him, and I tried to get between them.”

Her brother, who is undocumented, didn’t provide them with identification.

“They shoved him in this car, which was a plain, beat-up van,” Jennifer said. “Then one of them asked if they should wait for ‘the other guy,’ and a different person said ‘we’re good with this one,’ like he was just part of their quota that day.”

Her brother is already back in Mexico.

Social media is awash with videos of federal agents making arrests at immigration court hearings, which are on federal property, inside federal courthouses.

What’s different about the detention of Jennifer’s brother is that it took place on the grounds of a state courthouse. Local media have reported the detention of at least two dozen other people on the grounds of California court buildings in Stanislaus, Glenn, Los Angeles and Fresno counties, and NPR reports federal immigration detentions in state courthouses across the country, from the Chicago suburbs to a county south of Boston.

During the first Trump administration, California Democrats were so concerned about ICE making arrests at superior court buildings and potentially discouraging witnesses from testifying that they passed a law to forbid that kind of enforcement.

Picking people up at a courthouse can have a “potential chilling effect” on witnesses, victims and even suspects who are afraid to show up for court, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero said earlier this summer.

“Making courthouses a focus of immigration enforcement hinders, rather than helps, the administration of justice by deterring witnesses and victims from coming forward and discouraging individuals from asserting their rights,” Guerrero said.

By waiting outside the courthouse, immigration agents appear to be complying with California law, though it’s unclear whether the word “courthouse” in the law includes the grounds outside the courthouse. Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office wouldn’t provide what a spokesperson called “legal analysis” of those actions when CalMatters asked about them.

But at least one immigration enforcement action was a clear violation of state law.

In Butte County, immigration enforcement agents conducted an operation inside the county’s Oroville courthouse on July 28. State law forbids civil arrests “in a courthouse while attending a court proceeding or having legal business in the courthouse.”

“As far as the court is aware, ICE had not conducted enforcement actions inside one of its courthouses prior to Monday, July 28th,” Butte County Superior Court executive officer Sharif Elmallah said in a statement.

“The court is concerned by the potential chilling effect and other potential adverse impacts on participation in the legal system that may occur due to these enforcement actions being conducted in and around courthouses.”

New laws have uncertain prospects

As with the package of bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Saturday meant to keep immigration enforcement agents out of schools and hospitals, it’s unclear what California law enforcement can actually do to enforce the law forbidding immigration agents from making arrests inside courthouses.

The state Justice Department’s guidance to state courthouses provides some latitude to immigration enforcement agents. They may make arrests inside a courthouse if the case involves a national security threat, someone’s life is in danger, evidence is in danger or agents are in “hot pursuit.”

Failing all of that, under California law, immigration agents can enter a courthouse to detain someone whom they believe poses a danger to public safety if they can’t find an alternate location and they have the approval of a federal immigration enforcement supervisor.

ICE defends courthouse arrests

Jennifer believes immigration agents ran her brother’s name through their own database when it was posted on the Fresno County Superior Court’s public online court docket, then waited for him to appear.

In response to questions from CalMatters, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded with a July quote from a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson which asserted the agency’s right to make arrests of “a lawbreaker where you find them.” The spokesperson also said the arrests are safer for immigration agents, since the people they’re arresting have been through security.

Policies on courthouse arrests have seesawed through Democratic and Republican administrations.

The Obama administration in 2011 designated schools, hospitals and religious buildings as “sensitive locations” where immigration agents need permission to operate. ICE at the time said the list of sensitive locations was longer than those three types of places and urged agents to get permission from higher-ups before making arrests at any organization assisting “victims of crime.”

Trump undid that policy in 2018 with a directive instructing ICE agents to make arrests at state and local courthouses. They proceeded to do so, even in California. In 2021, the Biden administration reversed that guidance, putting courthouses mostly off-limits.

In May, Wired reported that the new Trump administration went even further than its 2018 directive, explicitly removing instructions to agents that they should respect local laws that would prevent them from arresting people.

Are immigrants avoiding court?

Jennifer said word has already gotten out in the immigrant community in Fresno to stop attending court. Family members even tried to discourage her brother from appearing on the day he was detained.

“In general, people are just avoiding going to the courthouse, even after meeting with groups who inform them that there’s consequences to not showing up,” said Nora Zaragoza-Yáñez, a program manager for the Valley Watch Network, an immigrant rights group.

A Fresno County Superior Court spokesperson said the court hasn’t seen a change in the number of people appearing, but noted that in a county of 1 million people, such shifts among a relatively small population would be hard to notice.

The state Department of Justice said it’s aware of the courthouse arrests. As a former member of the state Assembly, Bonta, now the state attorney general, was a co-author of the law that was meant to deter immigration enforcement at California courthouses.

“We are very concerned with the Trump administration’s actions, which make our communities less safe by deterring victims or witnesses of crimes from coming forward out of fear of getting caught up in the president’s mass deportation dragnet,” the California Department of Justice said in an unsigned statement to CalMatters.

Most Southern California renters continue to struggle to find housing they can afford. An important — and for some, possibly life-changing — option opened up on Monday for low-income residents.

The Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) began accepting applicants for its waitlist for public housing for a limited time.

Tracie Mann, the chief of programs for LACDA, said the waitlist was last open in April 2024.

“We need to refresh the list, get new families who are interested in applying, not only to our family sites, but also to our senior sites,” she said.

Mann said she expects more people to apply now because of the sharp rise in the cost of living.

“We know that housing is a serious need here within the region of Los Angeles County, and having LACDA in a position to be able to offer public housing units to those most in need is just so… critical,” she said.

The rent in these county-owned and managed units is generally capped at 30% of a household’s gross income. That limit helps families build savings, said  Justin Fitzsimmons, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

“It is a really valuable resource and can be a great opportunity for people to be able to build wealth in this economy and set up their generations in the future,” he said.

Orchard Arms is a public housing property with 183 units in Valencia. It's reserved for seniors.

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Courtesy Los Angeles County Development Authority

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It’s common, Fitzsimmons said, to see clients come to his office for legal help after a life event, such as an accident or major illness that has depleted their savings.

"Public housing is a really wonderful opportunity for a person to help to weather those events that life throws your way," he said.

The waitlist application window opened at 8 a.m. Monday and is set to close at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16.

Here’s who qualifies and how to apply

To qualify, families must be earning significantly less than the median income in L.A. County. There are different tiers, Mann said, including 30% and 50% of that median income.

People in L.A. County will fall below the 50% threshold if they earn up to $58,300 per year. Families of four will meet the cutoff if they earn no more than $83,300 per year.

Follow this link for more information about how to apply. If you’ve already registered with LACDA, you can apply at this link.

South Bay Gardens is a public housing property with 100 units in South Los Angeles.

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Courtesy Los Angeles County Development Authority

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You can seek help with your application by calling LACDA at (626) 586-1522 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

LACDA staff also helps people complete their online applications in person at their offices in Alhambra. Their address is 700 W. Main St., Alhambra.

Location, location, location

LACDA oversees public housing on 68 properties for more than 6,600 residents. The agency is opening up wait list registration at only 16 of those sites. Thinking about which location to apply to is important because if you apply to a location and you don’t accept the unit that you’re offered, you will be removed from the waiting list until it opens back up.

People leave public housing units for various reasons, Mann said, such as moving outside the county, finding another apartment or facing eviction. She said LACDA’s public housing program averages 300 vacancies per year. Wait times can be months or longer, depending on vacancies at each property.

Applications for the smaller properties will be capped at 1,000 applications, and their waitlists will close early if that threshold is reached before Sept. 16.

You can find more information about the 16 sites opening their waitlists at this link.

Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is legally contesting her siblings’ plan to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% minority ownership stake in the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, according to a letter obtained Monday by the Associated Press.

ESPN and The Athletic first reported that the siblings had voted to sell the family trust’s remaining interest in the 17-time NBA champion team purchased by their father, Jerry Buss, in 1979. The decision would end Jeanie Buss’ tenure as the Lakers’ governor because that job requires at least 15% ownership of the team.

Jeannie Buss’ attorney, Adam Streisand, wrote to representatives for her five siblings to state that any decision to sell the family trust’s ownership stake could not be “effectuated without approval of the current co-trustees, Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.”

The letter further states that the co-trustees “are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain Controlling Owner. Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

Jeanie Buss has been the Lakers’ governor since Jerry Buss’ death in 2013, and she led the family’s decision to sell a controlling stake in the Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter last year at a valuation of $10 billion. Walter, who is under federal investigation for tax issues, abruptly reached a deal earlier this month to flip the Lakers to Kushner and Iger at a valuation of $12.5 billion, another record for a pro sports team.

Venture capitalist Kushner and former Disney CEO Iger are reportedly buying about 65% of the team from Walter. They would own about 83% if they reach a deal with the Buss siblings — and Jeanie Buss would lose the governor role that she had been slated to keep at least through 2030 under the deal with Walter.

Sibling rivalry

The siblings have been in frequent conflict since their father’s death, with Jeanie firing Jim from his job as the Lakers’ head of basketball operations in 2017, followed a week later with a lawsuit against her brothers amid an attempt by Jim and Johnny to oust Jeanie from her role as the Lakers’ controlling owner.

Not all of the six Buss siblings — Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse — were in favor of the deal despite retaining their family trust’s minority ownership stake, and Joey and Jesse were fired from their front-office jobs with the team last November.

The siblings say they voted this month to sell their family’s remaining interest in the Lakers, but Jeanie Buss claims any vote is void. ESPN reported that Jeanie Buss was the only sibling who didn’t support the final sale.

“We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” the Buss family said in a statement. “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles, but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”

In his letter, Streisand said Joey and Jesse Buss have leaked information to ESPN for many years “for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Dr. Buss’s chosen successor, Jeanie Buss, carries out her father’s wishes.”

Jerry Buss was a chemist and real estate investor who bought the Lakers, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the Forum arena from Jack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million. The Lakers quickly entered a renaissance in which they became known for their flashy “Showtime” style of play while winning five NBA titles between 1980 and 1988 behind Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

While the NBA and professional sports became increasingly more corporate, the Lakers remained essentially a family business despite their massive profile and steady success. Jerry Buss and the Lakers have employed many of the basketball world’s greatest players and coaches of the past five decades, and Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to five additional championships between 2000 and 2010 before LeBron James added the 17th in 2020.

The sale agreement with Kushner and Iger still must be approved by the NBA’s board of governors, and the process could take months.

Topline:

Cost-of-living: Latinos favored Democrats by 34% when it came to the question about who's better handling cost-of-living. “ It is the economy, cost of living and affordability that is, by a far measure, the issue driving Latino voters and Latino sentiments,” said Mike Madrid, Republican political consultant and founder of the Latino Working Class Project.

More support for Dems? No. This does not mean Latino voters are completely satisfied with how Democrats are running things in California.  "They are just as unhappy with Democrats,” said David Binder, founder of David Binder Research, which helped conduct the poll.

What this means for the gubernatorial race: An overwhelming amount of Latino voters are supporting Xavier Becerra over Steve Hilton, 72% to 24%.  ”If Xavier Becerra wins the election in November, it'll be incumbent upon him to prove that he is also working on behalf of Latino voters and all working class voters to help bring down costs and make things more affordable,” Binder said.