The Brief

An incident at a church in Downey on Wednesday led to one person being detained and a man in a police vest pointing a gun at the church’s pastor, religious leaders said.

Faith leaders worry it’s a sign of immigration enforcement encroaching on places of worship.

What we know

About 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the head pastors of Downey Memorial Christian Church noticed law enforcement agents surrounding a man sitting in the shade of a tree on the far side of the church’s parking lot. Revs. Tanya Lopez and Al Lopez went outside to ask the agents to identify themselves and to ask what they were doing.

The Lopezes said the agents refused to identify themselves and told them they didn’t have a right to confront them in the parking lot. In a video provided by Al Lopez, five officers wear plain clothes, masks and camouflage bulletproof vests. Several have the word “police” on the front of their vests.

In the background of the video, Tanya Lopez can be heard shouting, “We are not OK with you being on our property.”

A still image from a video taken by Rev. Tanya Lopez in the parking lot of her Downey church shows two of the agents involved in Wednesday's incident.

(

Tanya Lopez

)

Tanya Lopez said the agents kept directing her to back up as she spoke to them, and one officer eventually pointed a large gun directly at her. At that point, she said, she backed away. The man who had been in the parking lot was eventually taken away in an SUV.

The Lopezes said they also called the Downey Police Department, but were told nothing could be done.

Downey Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

Al Lopez later recounted the incident at a news conference.

The agents refused to identify themselves, he said. He told them, “We don’t want this on our property.”

What the agent said next will stay with him. He said one of the agents shouted: “The whole country is our property.”

“When someone tells that to you with a weapon in their hand, that was a very clear message,” Al Lopez said. “And as a man of faith, that is not ... correct, and that goes against everything that our country stands for.”

The context

Longstanding federal policy has prohibited immigration enforcement, including raids, at “sensitive locations,” such as hospitals, schools and places of worship. In January, the Trump administration rescinded that policy.

In response, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), filed a lawsuit to reinstate the policy.

In April, a federal judge, siding with the Trump administration, denied issuing a preliminary injunction, allowing immigration agents to conduct enforcement at sensitive places, including houses of worship.

What's next?

“We come out with courage of conviction, and we say that this is not the way," Tanya Lopez, one of the pastors of Downey Memorial Christian Church, said at a news conference Wednesday.

(

Erin Stone

/

LAist

)

The Lopezes and other faith leaders called for an end to the raids Wednesday. They urged communities to report immigration raids and seek support from faith leaders and community groups.

Tanya Lopez said she hopes places of worship can once again become a safe space.

“ We're nonviolently meeting the moment because that is what historically we have been taught by our teachers, our rabbis, our pastors, our imams, that we do not come out violently,” she said. “We come out with courage of conviction, and we say that this is not the way.”

Read LAist’s guide to your rights and how to be prepared to interact with immigration authorities.

The Federal Reserve is again expected to lower its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point Wednesday, in an effort to support a weakening job market. But stubborn inflation and delayed economic data could complicate the Fed's decision, leading to more-than-usual disagreement within the rate-setting committee.

A rate cut could make it slightly cheaper to borrow money to buy a car, expand a business or carry a balance on a credit card. The Fed also lowered rates at its last two meetings, but the decisions were not unanimous, highlighting the competing pressures that the central bank is facing.

Inflation is still well above the Fed's target, which would ordinarily call for keeping interest rates elevated. But unemployment has also been creeping up, which would typically point toward lower rates. Fed policymakers are divided on which of those problems is more urgent.

The decision is also clouded by a lack of timely data as a result of the six-week government shutdown. Furloughed federal workers were unable to gather inflation and unemployment numbers in October. And November's readings have been delayed until next week — too late to sway the Fed's decision.

For now, policymakers have to rely on somewhat stale economic data from September, when annual inflation was clocked at 2.8%, according to the Fed's preferred measure, while unemployment stood at 4.4%. Both figures were slightly higher than in the previous month.

People shop in a discount supermarket in Union, N.J., on Sept. 22.

(

Charly Triballeau

/

AFP via Getty Images

)

Investors are betting that a majority of Fed policymakers will vote for a quarter-point cut at the conclusion of this week's meeting. Policymakers will also update their predictions about where they think rates are going next year.

At September's meeting, Fed officials projected an average of just one additional interest rate cut in 2026.

President Trump has been demanding that the central bank cut rates more aggressively, even though the Fed is designed to be insulated from political pressure. In September, Trump installed White House economic adviser Stephen Miran to fill a short-term vacancy on the Fed board. Miran has cast the lone vote for larger, half-point rate cuts at each of the last two meetings.

Trump has also tried to replace Fed Governor Lisa Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud. So far, that effort has been blocked by the Supreme Court. The high court will hear arguments in Cook's case next month.

Trump has been outspoken in his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying Powell has been "too late" in cutting interest rates. Powell's term as Fed chair expires in May, and Trump is expected to nominate a new leader for the central bank soon.
Copyright 2025 NPR

The fight over how much new housing should be allowed in neighborhoods rebuilding from the Palisades and Eaton fires is headed to court.

Advocates for increased housing construction filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles-area politicians over their orders banning duplexes in burn zones.

The group YIMBY Law alleges Newsom, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and others acted illegally when they issued orders to suspend the state law SB 9 in certain neighborhoods now rebuilding from the Palisades and Eaton fires.

SB 9 allows single-family homeowners to split their lots and build duplexes, in some cases creating four units where one house previously stood.

In July, Newsom signed an order granting local governments the ability to block the law in high fire risk zones. Bass quickly took up the offer, banning SB 9 projects in the Pacific Palisades.

Other local governments, including the city of Pasadena, Malibu and L.A. County followed suit.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction ordering local governments to begin processing SB 9 applications again, as well as a declaration that Newsom’s order was illegal.

YIMBYs say bans raise barriers to rebuilding 

YIMBY Law Executive Director Sonja Trauss said the bans will make rebuilding harder for some families. She said some may only be able to return by selling pieces of their land, pooling finances with family members to live multi-generationally, or earning extra income from new rental units.

“Making it harder for families to use the single most impactful tool they have left — their land — doesn’t make recovery safer,” Trauss said in a statement. “It raises the barrier of who gets to come back at all.”

Newsom spokesperson Tara Gallegos said in an email to LAist that the Governor's Office was holding firm on the order.

“We will not allow outside groups — even longstanding allies — to attack the Palisades, and communities in the highest fire risk areas throughout L.A. County, or undermine local flexibility to rebuild after the horror of these fires,” Gallegos said.

Newsom’s office had been in discussions with YIMBY Law earlier this week on possible changes to the order to stave off a lawsuit. But Gallegos said Newsom would not “negotiate away” protections for burn zones.

“Our obligation is to survivors, full stop,” Gallegos said. “If defending them requires drawing firm lines, we will draw them."

The lawsuit alleges Newsom’s order violated the California Emergency Services Act, as well as the state Constitution’s separation of powers by overriding the legislature’s decision to apply SB 9 in high-fire-risk zones.

Because the governor’s order was illegal, the lawsuit claims, the local orders banning SB 9 projects in specific neighborhoods were also unlawful.

The complaint says the moves to ban duplexes and lot splits were spurred by “the lobbying influence of a small, highly-connected, wealthy community, and their ability to stop a type of housing they dislike, even in the midst of a generational housing crisis.”

What led to the bans

Some Pacific Palisades residents erupted with anger over news in the summer that seven SB 9 project applications had been filed with the city of L.A. They contended that increased housing density would harm the neighborhood’s character, and would clog evacuations in future emergencies.

L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Palisades, blamed the situation on “opportunistic developers” whom she said were using SB 9 to “exploit a devastating disaster for their economic advantage.”

But as the complaint from YIMBY Law notes, SB 9 contains owner-occupancy requirements that bar outside developers from building the densest projects allowed under the law. Applicants must state that they intend to live on the site for at least three years before they can split a lot.

Bass’s office did not comment on the lawsuit, but provided a statement that said she “will continue to work with Governor Newsom and state leaders to advocate for the Palisades community as rebuilding continues."

Officials with the city of Pasadena, which enacted a ban on SB 9 projects in high fire risk zones in September, declined to comment on pending litigation. Officials in the city of Malibu, which was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment.

How did L.A. County end up banning SB 9?

Soon after Newsom’s order, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger — who represents Altadena — told LAist she did not intend to ban SB 9 projects in unincorporated parts of the county. At the time, she said, “I don't want to disenfranchise anyone from the ability to rebuild.”

However, a memo on the county’s Planning Department website now says SB 9 projects located in the zones outlined in Newsom’s order are “not eligible” for faster approval under the state law. County officials confirmed that Planning Director Amy Bodek made the decision. They said the ban did not require a vote from the Board of Supervisors.

Most of Altadena is not categorized as a “very high” fire hazard severity zone. But about 23% of Altadena’s single-family lots are in high fire risk zones. County planning officials told LAist they have stopped processing SB 9 applications in those areas.

In a statement, Barger said. “The County is applying lawful SB 9 restrictions in Very High Fire Hazard Areas to prioritize public safety in areas where critical infrastructure is constrained or limited — which I support. But I also believe SB 9 empowers Eaton Fire survivors to rebuild homes that meet multigenerational needs and add lasting value to their communities.”

The Trump administration is transforming the agency known for processing green cards and citizenship requests into one of its strongest anti-immigration policing arms.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, is one of the three branches of the Homeland Security Department that deals with migration.

Traditionally, its more than 20,000 employees have focused on the various ways people can lawfully immigrate and stay in the U.S. — be that applying for asylum, a green card, citizenship, work visa, or another legal pathway.

Since January, administration officials have taken an axe to that traditional mission by encouraging early retirements, shuttering collective bargaining agreements and drastically cutting back on programs that facilitate legal migration. New job postings lean into the rhetoric of hiring "homeland defenders" and tackling fraud.

During his Senate confirmation, USCIS director Joseph Edlow proclaimed that "at its core, USCIS must be an immigration enforcement agency."

The efforts come as President Trump seeks to curb illegal immigration but also reduce legal ways to get to the U.S. and stay here, especially for certain nationalities.

It's rocking the agency from the inside, crushing morale and prompting resignations, according to current and former agency employees.

With the recent changes, at least 1,300 people took the "Fork in the Road" resignation offer for federal employees, while others have left on their own. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection employees were not allowed to take the offer.)

And it's catching immigrants and their families, lawyers and advocates off guard.

"'Am I going to get arrested?' … That's a question, regardless of their past," said Eric Welsh, an immigration attorney in California who helps his clients apply for various USCIS programs.

"There really is a lot more fear and there is a lot more concern about, should we do it at all?," Welsh said, about people applying for legal status.

Rapid changes after deadly shooting

The changes have been rapid. In recent weeks, the White House said it would re-review all approved refugee claims under the Biden administration.

After an Afghan national was charged for shooting two National Guard members in late November, the administration also halted processing green card and citizenship applications from nationals of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, and ordered retroactive reviews of already-approved applications.

"I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover," Trump wrote on social media after the shooting. "Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation."

USCIS stopped processing many immigration applications entirely, including for asylum.

"USCIS' role in the nation's immigration system has never been more critical," Edlow, its director, said in a statement last week announcing a new vetting center that will conduct interviews and re-review already approved immigration applications.

"Under President Trump, we are building more protective measures that ensure fraud, deception, and threats do not breach the integrity of our immigration system."

Recent policies come after a swath of other changes this year. Policy memos have emphasized that the priority for refugees is admitting those who can easily assimilate into the country, with the target demographic being white Afrikaners from South Africa.

The White House also capped refugee admissions for this fiscal year at 7,500, the lowest since the modern refugee program started in the 1980s.

The agency has unveiled a longer, tougher citizenship test. It has also moved forward with a rule that would allow officers to consider an immigrant's legal use of public benefits, such as food stamps and healthcare, as a reason to deny status.

Reports of arrests and detention following routine USCIS interviews and appointments have increased fear among immigrants.

"They're reaching deeper into the weeds of immigration policy, and they may be more successful in slowing legal immigration, which at least some members of the Trump administration have stated is their goal," said Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute. "That's a pretty different stance towards immigration than we've seen over recent decades."

In Trump's first term, the changes did not significantly curb legal migration, but that may be changing.

"Some people, if they have a green card, might just wait to naturalize and see if they can wait for a new administration," Gelatt said.

USCIS leans into enforcement and policing tactics

The new administration has prioritized the agency's law enforcement work.

For example, USCIS has promoted a new role: "homeland defenders."

It is unclear exactly what these positions are responsible for. USCIS said they will be "interviewing aliens, reviewing applications, and identifying criminal or ineligible aliens."

The posting also specifies this position is expected to provide direct support to CBP and ICE, two agencies leading the effort to arrest, detain and deport immigrants.

The roles also seem to cater to those with backgrounds in traditional law enforcement, contrary to a background in immigration law and administrative government work that is more typical for USCIS.

USCIS said it received some 35,000 applications for the role of "homeland defender" and has made "hundreds" of job offers, including to former law enforcement officials and veterans, according to a November USCIS press release.

"USCIS is cutting bureaucratic red tape to hire fiercely dedicated, America-first patriots to serve on the frontlines and hold the line against terrorists, criminal aliens, and bad actors intent on infiltrating our nation," the release stated.

It also created USCIS special agents, who have law enforcement authority to carry firearms, and investigate, arrest and prosecute immigration cases. In the past, much of this would be the work of ICE or CBP, according to the release announcing the new workforce.

"Certainly the immigration enforcement side of things that are happening has sent a message that anybody who isn't a citizen in the United States could be arrested and put into ICE detention and potentially deported," Gelatt said. "That has a real chilling effect on people's willingness to interact with the government generally, and with USCIS as well."

USCIS workers defend past enforcement

The changes are having an impact inside the agency, as workers feel out of the loop about the direction and pace of changes.

Michael Knowles was an asylum officer for 34 years and currently serves as the executive vice president of the union that represents 15,000 USCIS employees. He says morale is some of the lowest he's seen in his tenure, thanks to the termination of the union contract, a haphazard back-to-office mandate that has employees working in makeshift desks, and a lack of communication from agency leadership.

"There are questions about what will be our mission, what will be our focus? And to that extent, we are alarmed by rhetoric," Knowles said. He said the agency has always enforced the nation's immigration laws when it processes applications.

One USCIS refugee officer who recently departed the agency after nearly a decade said the speed of the changes "overwhelmed" employees, and recent changes were the last straw. The person spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity out of concern of retaliation from the agency they hope to return to.

USCIS staffers say they have always worked hard to ensure people don't get benefits they do not qualify for, and also look for people who may be breaking the law.

So employees were upset by the administration's implication that they hadn't been doing their jobs properly for the last five years, after the White House announced all refugees admitted under in the Biden era must be reinterviewed.

"It's going to cause a lot of confusion. It's going to cause a lot of chaos. It's going to cost a lot of money," the employee said. "It seems impossible."

USCIS said it has paused the approvals while it "works to ensure that all aliens from these countries are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible," the agency said in an emailed statement.

Not "an adversarial office"

Beyond policy and rhetoric changes, there's been subtler signs of transformation.

Signs inside USCIS offices urge people to leave the country, mirroring the tone of a detention center, rather than that of an immigration office, according to Welsh and other lawyers.

"USCIS is not designed to be an adversarial office," he said. "They're not the enforcers. They're not looking to reduce."

Now, he said, his clients are concerned with needing to have proof of a good moral character by providing church attendance or charitable donation history, for example.

"It's now certainly not the kind of friendly atmosphere that we used to experience with the agency," Welsh said.

Lawyers fear all the changes would further curb legal migration of the kind the U.S. had previously welcomed.

"We have borders and we have benefits. So for people who deserve them or people who have earned them for various reasons, we provide them," Welsh said. "If we just go into a pure enforcement mindset, then there's no happy place to be."

The agency did not respond to a question about whether immigrants will be deterred from pursuing legal pathways to permanent status.

"The safety of the American people always come [sic] first," the agency said in its statement.

Copyright 2025 NPR

MOUNT POCONO, Pa. — On the road in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Donald Trump tried to emphasize his focus on combating inflation, yet the issue that has damaged his popularity couldn't quite command his full attention.

The president told the crowd gathered at a casino and resort in Mount Pocono that inflation was no longer a problem and that Democrats had used the term "affordability" as a "hoax" to hurt his reputation. But his remarks weaved wildly to include grievances he first raised behind closed doors in his first term in 2018 — and later denied saying — asking why the U.S. doesn't have more immigrants from Scandinavia.

"Why is it we only take people from s—-hole countries, right?" Trump said onstage. "Why can't we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few?"

Trump said he objected to taking immigrants from "hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries." He added for emphasis that those places "are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime."

Tuesday's gathering in the swing state — and in a competitive House district — was an official White House event, yet it seemed more like one of his signature campaign rallies that his chief of staff said he would hold regularly ahead of next year's midterms. But instead of being in an arena that could draw several thousand attendees, it was held in a conference center ballroom at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, a small town of about 3,000 residents.

Voters starting to blame lasting inflation on Republicans

Following dismal results for Republicans in last month's off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump.

He displayed a chart comparing price increases under his predecessor, Joe Biden, to prices under his own watch to argue his case. But the overall inflation rate has climbed since he announced broad tariffs in April and left many Americans worried about their grocery, utility and housing bills.

"I have no higher priority than making America affordable again," Trump said. "They caused the high prices and we're bringing them down."

As the president spoke, his party's political vulnerabilities were further seen as Miami voters chose Eileen Higgins to be their first Democratic mayor in nearly 30 years. Higgins defeated the Trump-endorsed Republican Emilio Gonzalez.

The president's reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally showed he could still appeal to the base, but it was unable to settle questions of whether he could hold together his 2024 coalition. Monroe County flipped to Trump last year after having backed Biden in 2020, helping the Republican win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus.

As home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has largely relied on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting and other activities as a source of jobs. Its proximity to New York City — under two hours by car — has also attracted people seeking more affordable housing.

President Donald Trump speaks at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025.

(

Matt Rourke

/

AP

)

In Monroe County, people agree that prices are a problem

But what seems undeniable — even to Trump supporters in Monroe County — is that inflation seems to be here to stay.

Lou Heddy, a retired maintenance mechanic who voted for Trump last year, said he's noticed in the past month alone that his and his wife's grocery bills have risen from $175 to $200, and he's not sure Trump can bring food prices down.

"Once the prices get up for food, they don't ever come back down. That's just the way I feel. I don't know how the hell he would do it," said Heddy, 72.

But Suzanne Vena, a Democratic voter, blames Trump's tariffs for making life more expensive, as she struggles with rising bills for food, rent and electricity on a fixed income. She remembers Trump saying that he would stop inflation.

"That's what we were originally told," said Vena, 66. "Did I believe it? That's another question. I did not."

The area Trump visited could help decide control of the House in next year's midterm elections.

Trump held his rally in a congressional district held by first-term Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who is a top target of Democrats. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is running for the nomination to challenge him.

Speaking to the crowd before Trump, Bresnahan said the administration was working to lower costs, but voters "aren't asking for partisan arguments — they're asking for results."

It's not clear if Trump can motivate voters in Monroe County to show up in next year's election if they're worried about inflation.

Nick Riley, 38, said he's cutting back on luxuries, like going out to eat, as he absorbs higher bills for food and electricity and is having a hard time finding a good deal on a used car. Riley voted for Trump in 2020, but he sat out the 2024 election and plans to do so again next year.

"We're all broke. It doesn't matter whether you support Republicans or support Democrats," Riley said. "We're all broke, and we're all feeling it."

Trump to start holding more rallies before midterm elections

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said on the online conservative talk show "The Mom View" that Trump would be on the campaign trail next year to engage supporters who otherwise might sit out a congressional race.

Wiles, who helped manage Trump's 2024 campaign, said most administrations try to localize midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she intends to do the opposite of that.

"We're actually going to turn that on its head," Wiles said, "and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters."

The challenge for Trump is how to address the concerns of voters about the economy while simultaneously claiming that the economy is enjoying a historic boom.

Asked on a Politico podcast how he'd rate the economy, Trump leaned into grade inflation by answering "A-plus," only to then amend his answer to "A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus."

Trump says economy is strong, but Americans should buy fewer dolls

The U.S. economy has shown signs of resilience with the stock market up this year and overall growth looking solid for the third quarter. But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity and other basic needs as swallowing up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration has said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.

So far, the public has been skeptical about Trump's economic performance. Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

But Trump indicated that his tariffs and other policies were helping industries such as the steel sector. He said those industries mattered for the country as he then specifically told Americans that they should buy fewer pencils and dolls from overseas.

"You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter," he told the crowd. "Two or three is nice."
Copyright 2025 NPR