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The most important stories for you to know today
  • Supervisor defended family after daughter was sued
    A man dressed in a suit jacket and tie looks up while seated in front of a sign that says "County of Orange California," "Andrew Do," "District 1."
    O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do at an Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 23, 2024.

    Topline:

    Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, whose home was searched by FBI and IRS agents last week, directed millions of tax dollars that the county alleges were fraudulently diverted. He has declined to comment to English-language news outlets for months. But he did speak recently on a Vietnamese language radio broadcast, which LAist commissioned a translation of.

    What did he say? In an Aug. 15 broadcast, a few hours after the county filed a fraud lawsuit against his daughter, Do spoke for 17 minutes criticizing what he called slander against his “whole family” and defending the nonprofit Viet America Society (VAS), and the group’s founder Peter Pham from allegations they misused millions of dollars meant to feed vulnerable seniors.

    The backstory: Viet America Society is at the center of the lawsuit filed by Orange County, which followed months of investigative articles from LAist. Those articles were the first to report Do’s funding of VAS via several contracts he awarded to the nonprofit, including money earmarked for feeding seniors during the pandemic and building a Vietnam War memorial in Fountain Valley. Public records and the nonprofit’s filings with the state, county and federal government show that Supervisor Do’s daughter, Rhiannon Do, was listed in leading roles at Viet America Society on and off during the time her father directed millions to the group.

    Were other homes searched? A Tustin home owned by Rhiannon Do was also searched this week by the IRS. Federal agents also searched the homes of other people with ties to VAS who the county has accused of involvement in the alleged fraud.

    Keep reading… for full details on what Supervisor Do said during his radio broadcast.

    Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, the central figure in an unfolding corruption scandal that saw his home searched by FBI and IRS agents last week, has for months declined to comment to English-language news outlets.

    Last week, he spoke out on Vietnamese-language radio, according to a recording of the remarks that LAist had translated. The broadcast took place a few hours after LAist broke the news on Aug. 15 that county officials filed a fraud lawsuit against his daughter, Rhiannon Do, and others involved in a nonprofit she helped lead, according to two people who said they spoke with others who heard the broadcast live.

    Supervisor Do directed more than $10 million in public funds to the nonprofit, Viet America Society (VAS), that have gone unaccounted for, despite O.C. officials’ repeated demands for answers about what happened to the money since February.

    LAist reached out to Supervisor Do on Friday and Saturday and did not get a response. A county spokesperson declined to comment on the broadcast.

    Supervisor Do has declined or not responded to dozens of LAist’s requests for comment since LAist first reported on millions in public funds he’d directed Viet America Society outside of public view.

    The Aug. 15 broadcast on VietLink Radio is Supervisor Do’s first — and so far only — known public response to the controversy since the county filed suit alleging that millions of taxpayer dollars were misspent. It is being reported here in English for the first time.

    VietLink Radio is owned by Supervisor Do’s former deputy chief of staff Nick Lecong, and broadcasts a few hours per week on 1480 AM from a transmitter in Santa Ana.

    Supervisor Do calls recent allegations ‘a slander’

    Supervisor Do spoke for 17 minutes on the VietLink Radio segment. He criticized fellow O.C. Republican Janet Nguyen, a state senator currently running for Do's seat, the media and others for what he called slander against his “whole family.” Supervisor Do also defended the Viet America Society, and Peter Pham, the nonprofit group’s founder, from allegations they misused millions of dollars meant to feed vulnerable seniors. He spoke on his own and was not interviewed.

    An Asian woman with long brown hair sits at a desk with a microphone. She is facing to the right.
    State Sen. Janet Nguyen, a Huntington Beach Republican, votes during session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 30, 2022.
    (
    Rahul Lal
    /
    CalMatters
    )

    During his broadcast, Supervisor Do pointed to a financial review that he described as showing Viet America Society “is complying with the law,” according to the translation. He appeared to be referring to a financial review released last week by VAS’ new attorney, Mark Rosen.

    Allegations that laws were broken are “just a wrongful accusation, a slander,” Supervisor Do added.

    The number of people who have received meals from the group “is very high,” he said, adding that 400,000 meals have been served. Supervisor Do said that number was provided by Rosen.

    Rosen first emerged publicly as VAS’ lawyer in an Aug. 12 letter to the county. VAS’ previous attorney, Sterling Scott Winchell, told the Orange County Register he no longer represented the group as of Aug. 13.

    County officials recently issued findings that Viet America Society's meal numbers were “questionable” and that the nonprofit failed to prove it served the number of meals required in county contracts. It filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court on Aug. 15 — a few hours before Supervisor Do’s radio segment that night — based in large part on those findings. The case has been transferred to San Diego County Superior Court.

    In his broadcast, Supervisor Do said that many people were helped by VAS.

    “People came to Phước Lộc Thọ to eat every day, to be helped by Peter Pham's Society,” Supervisor Do said about VAS. Phước Lộc Thọ is the Vietnamese name for the Asian Garden Mall, where Pham’s restaurant Perfume River is located.

    An LAist review of VAS’ internal financial ledgers provided to the county and obtained by a public records request, found that VAS paid $1.7 million to Perfume River, the majority of money it received from the county to provide meals to needy seniors in 2021 and 2022.

    The payments to Perfume River are labeled as “Food Supplies,” with no further information.

    In early April, LAist sent questions to the county and to Viet America Society leaders about those large-scale transfers of funds from the nonprofit to the restaurant. Neither entity has provided answers. A county spokesperson told LAist that the county has not received any details or invoices it has requested from VAS about the restaurant payments.

    County officials now say it’s unclear what happened to the taxpayer money that was forwarded to the restaurant. They issued findings, cited in their lawsuit against VAS, that the nonprofit has refused to provide the county with an explanation or documentation about what the funds were used for.

    The FBI searched the restaurant Thursday, as well as other locations tied to VAS.

    More from VietLink segment

    In his Aug. 15 broadcast on VietLink Radio, Supervisor Do said he and his family are victims of a smear campaign by the media and Janet Nguyen, the state senator and a former longtime ally turned political foe. Nguyen, a Republican, had mentored Supervisor Do, a fellow Republican. He served as her chief of staff when she was a county supervisor before they had a bitter falling out. She is currently a candidate to replace him as supervisor in the Nov. 5 election. (Do was termed out of office.)

    Supervisor Do also said during the broadcast that slander from the media and “factions that follow” Nguyen are why his wife Cheri Pham — the number two judge in Orange County Superior Court — recently decided not to seek the top judgeship.

    “They kept insinuating that there is something dark, something that discredits us and our families, not only is related to us but even with my wife. It slanders our whole family and therefore my wife no longer wants to be the…chief justice of Orange County,” Supervisor Do said on the broadcast.

    “Our community has lost an opportunity [for] the first time in the history of the United States since the Vietnamese were refugees, a Chief Justice of such ability, prestige and dignity as my wife has to turn down that position because of a completely unacceptable manner of conduct in our community.”

    From left to right, an Asian woman with white hair sits next to an Asian man wearing glasses. Next to him is an Asian woman in a Santa hat and a younger Asian woman with glasses and her hair tied back.
    O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do (center left) in December 2023 with his daughter Rhiannon Do (right) and wife Cheri Pham (between them). Pham is the assistant presiding judge of Orange County Superior Court.
    (
    Screenshot of a public video posted by Do’s official YouTube channel
    )

    Through a court spokesperson, Cheri Pham declined to comment on her husband’s description of why she decided not to seek the presiding judge position.

    She is currently the assistant presiding judge for a two-year period ending in December. Typically, people in that position run for presiding judge for the next term and win the election among the court’s judges, according to an LAist review of court announcements for the last 14 years.

    But Cheri Pham announced to the other judges last month that she had decided not to seek the top seat. She did not give a reason in her announcement, but said it was “not an easy decision” and came “after careful consideration.”

    Supervisor Do alleges defamation

    In the Aug. 15 radio broadcast, Supervisor Do also said he believes there are people who want to make sure he doesn’t try for elective office again.

    “They want to make sure that they have to defame Andrew Do so that he can’t become a candidate who they must fear in the future,” Do said in his broadcast.

    Asked for her response, Nguyen, the state senator, said Do has only himself to blame for his troubles. She also reiterated calls she has made for him to resign.

    “This is classic Andrew Do, lying to the Vietnamese community in their own language to create divide. Meanwhile, he has been completely silent to the rest of our community,” Nguyen wrote in a statement.

    “The reality is that Andrew is solely responsible for ruining his wife’s, Judge Cheri [Pham’s], career. Andrew is solely responsible for his daughter’s [alleged] fraudulent activities. Most importantly, he single-handedly stripped resources for our most vulnerable communities to benefit himself,” she added.

    “It’s time he looks in the mirror and takes accountability for his actions.”

    Nguyen is running against Frances Marquez, a city council member in Cypress and Democrat for Orange County’s first supervisorial district.

    Marquez called for Supervisor Do to resign in a statement to LAist on Saturday.

    “Anyone who violates the principles of ethics and betrays the public trust is not fit for holding office,” she wrote. “He had a duty to be honest and transparent with the residents of District 1 and failed us.”

    Earlier this year, Supervisor Do endorsed his then co-chief of staff, Van Tran, for his seat, but Tran placed third in the March primary and did not make it to the runoff.

    As a two-term supervisor, Do, himself, cannot run for supervisor again.

    About the county’s lawsuit

    The county’s lawsuit, which followed months of investigative articles from LAist on Supervisor Do’s funding of VAS, alleges his daughter and other leaders of the nonprofit “brazenly plundered” up to $10.4 million Supervisor Do had given them between early 2021 and fall 2023 to build a Vietnam War memorial and feed seniors and people with disabilities during the pandemic.

    The lawsuit claims Rhiannon Do and her associates at the nonprofit refused to show how they spent those millions of dollars in public funds, which the county received from the federal government to help respond to the public’s needs during the coronavirus pandemic.

    The county’s lawsuit accuses them of spending part of the money to buy million-dollar properties for themselves — but does not cite proof. Three of the six properties cited in the county’s lawsuit were among those that federal agents searched this week.

    Rosen, the lawyer for VAS, has disputed the county’s allegations, saying the lawsuit is riddled with errors, “a disgrace” and a “hatchet job.”

    Various men, two with FBI shirts stand at the bottom of a driveway and lawn that leads to a single story house.
    FBI officers and Craig Wilke, who identified as O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do's lawyer, at Supervisor Do's house in Orange County the day it was searched.
    (
    Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
    /
    LAist
    )

    On Thursday, a little less than a week after the radio broadcast, Supervisor Do and Cheri Pham’s house was searched by the FBI. Federal officials also searched a house purchased by Rhiannon Do; another purchased by Peter Pham, who is often listed in public records as the chief executive of VAS; other properties owned by people connected to VAS; and the Perfume River restaurant.

    Rhiannon Do and Peter Pham deny wrongdoing

    Rhiannon Do and Peter Pham have denied doing anything wrong.

    In an April email replying to LAist’s inquiries about the county’s payments to VAS, Rhiannon Do said there was nothing improper about how Viet America Society’s funding was used.

    An Asian woman is seated in a black chair with a white wall behind her wearing large glasses and a white shirt. A lower third graphic says "Rhiannon Do Fall 2020-Spring 2021 Legislative Intern."
    Rhiannon Do in a YouTube video posted in August 2021 by the Steinberg Institute where she was an intern.
    (
    Screenshot via YouTube
    )

    The “insinuation that there was something untoward with the use of VAS funds is fabricated” and a “false narrative,” she wrote. A lawyer who said he’s representing Rhiannon Do told LAist on Friday that she’s a "very honest, law-abiding, hardworking young woman."

    Following the federal search on his house, Peter Pham told the Los Angeles Times that the situation was a "misunderstanding" and that he "didn't do anything wrong."

    About VietLink Radio

    Nick Lecong, VietLink Radio’s owner, worked for Supervisor Do as his deputy chief of staff from February 2015 to September 2017.

    He was then hired as a translation contractor for Do’s county office through his company T&T Consulting, and was paid $72,000 per year for several years through contracts that did not go through a competitive bidding process.

    According to county records, VietLink Radio directly received $89,000 in county funds for public service announcements during the pandemic, plus an unknown portion of $150,000 the county paid vendors that have close ties to VAS leaders.

    That money made its way to ads on VietLink through private firms associated with VAS leaders Peter Pham, Le Dan Hua, Dinh Mai, and a woman who has lived at the same address as Peter Pham — Thu Thao Thi Vu — according to county invoice records obtained by LAist.

    In the second half of 2020, the county paid $75,000 each to Aloha Financial Investment and Hua Development — two companies that have shared leaders with VAS — to fund COVID-19 public service ads on broadcast outlets that included “Vietlink Radio and Vietlink Television,” according to the invoices.

    Aloha Financial Investment described itself as an “investments” business in a state filing last year. Hua Development is Peter Pham and Hua’s building contractor business.

    The ad payments were in addition to $60,000 the county directly paid VietLink Radio during the same period — also for pandemic public service ads, according to a county contract obtained by LAist. Those ads were supposed to run in newspapers, according to the contract.

    County spokesperson Molly Nichelson, who is listed in county records as requesting the Aloha Financial Investment and Hua Development purchase orders, said Friday she was looking into LAist’s questions about the ad payments.

    Lecong's ties to earlier investigation of Supervisor Do

    Lecong was mentioned in a previous investigation of Supervisor Do by the state Fair Political Practices Commission. That investigation found that Supervisor Do and Lecong used a different nonprofit as a “holding company” to pay for construction of statues of war heroes and former President Ronald Reagan at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley in 2015 and 2016.

    A statue of a figure  has a plaque on the front of it's large square base. A park with green grass and large trees surrounds it with  two white vehicles in the background.
    A statue of General Tran Hung Dao in Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley. The statue was cited in an investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
    (
    Mary Plummer
    /
    LAist
    )

    State investigators concluded that he and Lecong controlled that foundation even though they were not its named leaders.

    They issued findings that Supervisor Do had falsely told them under penalty of perjury that he had not asked anyone to donate to the foundation, when he had.

    The foundation used donated funds, raised by Supervisor Do, to pay two men who would later become involved with VAS. The two men — VAS founder Peter Pham and Hua, his partner in a general contracting business — were described by the Orange County Register at the time as project managers for the statues’ construction, and were paid $20,800.

    Peter Pham went on to found VAS in June 2020, days after Supervisor Do and other county supervisors voted to create the pandemic meals program. Hua — Peter Pham’s business partner — has served as VAS’ president on and off since its founding, according to tax filings and other government documents. Rhiannon Do also has appeared on contracts and other government filings, variously as the group’s president, vice president, executive director, officer and director.

    She told LAist, via email in April, that she never served in those roles. Rhiannon Do never responded to follow-up questions about why her name appears in at least nine public titles in top leadership roles at the nonprofit.

    Catch up on LAist's investigation

    In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions in public taxpayer dollars were spent. In total, LAist has uncovered over $13 million in public money was approved to a little-known nonprofit that records state was led on and off by Rhiannon Do, the now 23-year-old daughter of Supervisor Do. Most of that money was directed to the group by Supervisor Do outside of the public’s view and never appeared on public meeting agendas. He did not publicly disclose his family ties.

    Much of the known funding came from federal coronavirus relief money.

    • Read the story that launched the investigation here.
    • Since we started reporting, we’ve also uncovered the group was two years overdue in completing a required audit into whether the meal funds were spent appropriately.
    • And we found the amount of taxpayer money directed to the nonprofit was much larger than initially known. It totals at least $13.5 million in county funding — tallied from government records obtained and published by LAist. 
    • After our reporting, O.C. officials wrote demand letters to the nonprofit saying millions in funding were unaccounted for. They warned it could be forced to repay the funds.
    • And, we found the nonprofit missed a deadline set by county officials to provide proof about how funding for meals were spent.
    • On Aug. 2, LAist reported O.C. officials were demanding the refund of more than $3 million in public funds awarded by Do to VAS and another nonprofit, Hand to Hand.
    • Six days later, LAist reported Orange County officials had expanded demands for refunds of millions in tax dollars from the nonprofits and threatened legal action.
    • On Aug. 15, LAist reported O.C. officials sued VAS and its key officers and associated businesses, including Rhiannon Do. The lawsuit alleges that county money was illegally used to purchase five homes and was converted into cash through ATM transactions. 
    • Then, on Aug. 19, LAist reported O.C. officials had announced a second lawsuit against Hand to Hand and its CEO to recover millions of taxpayer dollars that were directed by Supervisor Do.
    • LAist broke the news on Aug. 22 that federal agents were searching Rhiannon Do's home in Tustin. Later that day, Supervisor Do's home, and other properties, were also raided.

    How to watchdog local government

    One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.

    Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

  • To put off state law, city must upzone some areas
    A train runs on tracks between two long rows of palm trees.
    A K Line train passes Edward Vincent Jr. Park in Inglewood during the testing phase.

    Topline:

    After California lawmakers passed a state housing law that allows taller apartment buildings near train lines, Los Angeles leaders are facing a tradeoff: If they want to delay full implementation of the law, they’ll have to choose some parts of the city to upzone.

    The background: Mayor Karen Bass and a slim majority of the L.A. City Council expressed opposition to SB 79, but Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law last year. Starting July 1, the law is set to allow apartment buildings up to nine stories tall next to subway stations, as well as smaller buildings within a half mile of light rail and rapid bus stops.

    The waiting option: L.A. leaders are now scrambling to pull a delay lever built into the law. The provision allows cities to put off implementation of some parts of the law until 2030, as long as they agree to allow more housing development in certain neighborhoods in the interim.

    Read on… to learn how discussions to delay SB 79 are shaping up at city hall, and what deadlines elected leaders are facing.

    After California lawmakers passed a state housing law that allows taller apartment buildings near train lines, Los Angeles leaders are facing a tradeoff: If they want to delay full implementation of the law, they’ll have to choose some parts of the city to upzone.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 79 into law last year. Starting July 1, the law is set to allow apartment buildings up to nine stories tall to be built next to subway stations and smaller buildings within a half-mile of light rail and rapid bus stops.

    L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and a slim majority of the L.A. City Council had expressed opposition to SB 79, in keeping with the long-standing preference of many city leaders to leave untouched the three-quarters of L.A.’s residential land zoned for single-family homes.

    Now, some L.A. leaders are scrambling to pull a delay lever that was built into SB 79. The provision allows cities to put off the law’s broadest effects until 2030, as long as they agree to allow more housing development in certain neighborhoods in the interim.

    “If we don't do this, what happens is SB 79 goes into effect full-on,” said Bob Blumenfield, chair of the council’s Planning and Land Use Committee, during a meeting on Tuesday. “I really want to avoid that happening.”

    Options for delay

    The state law lets cities delay implementation in neighborhoods deemed to be “low resource,” in areas at high risk of fires or sea level rise or are designated as historically significant. Even with those carve-outs, some higher-income neighborhoods near train stops will still be subject to upzoning.

    The city’s Planning Department produced a report last week laying out three different approaches for the City Council to delay SB 79. All of them involve local incentive programs that would allow developers to build apartment buildings in neighborhoods currently zoned for single-family homes.

    The first option would allow buildings up to four stories tall, while the second and third options would permit buildings up to eight stories.

    During the committee meeting Tuesday, homeowners spoke against the changes the new law would bring and the city’s upzoning plans.

    “Single-family neighborhoods are where families put down roots — they are the beating heart of Los Angeles and SB 79 runs a stake right through that heart,” said Shelley Wagers with the Beverly Grove Neighborhood Association. “We must use every tool to prevent irreversible harm and buy time.”

    Advocates for increased housing development said they favored the report’s third option, which would allow mid-sized apartment buildings within a half-mile of existing train stops, as well as planned stations and rapid bus stops.

    Scott Epstein, policy director for Abundant Housing L.A., said that approach “offers the best opportunity to meet our housing targets and ensure that neighborhoods rich in transit services and high-quality schools are doing their part.”

    What happens next

    The Planning and Land Use Committee could not get a three-person majority to agree on the best path forward, so the decision will now go to the full City Council for further debate.

    Blumenfield said his recommendation as committee chair was to allow mid-rise apartment buildings in many neighborhoods, but only near existing train stops, not planned stations or rapid bus stops. He also recommended more exemptions for certain historic preservation zones.

    Nithya Raman, a committee member who is also running for L.A. Mayor, said she found the report’s recommendations difficult to follow. Passing a delayed implementation plan could stave off changes in some neighborhoods, but only for a while, she said.

    “Eventually we will have to do something,” Raman said. “So the question is just what do we do now and what do we do later.”

    But council members have little time to figure out which approach they prefer. City planners told the committee that in order to have a delay ordinance in place by July 1, the council would need to decide what direction to take by early March.

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  • Suit claims LA County illegally paid CEO $2M
    A dais with people sitting behind computers and name tags.
    The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on April 15, 2025.

    Topline:

    A new lawsuit alleges L.A. County’s $2 million settlement payout to its CEO was an illegal gift of public funds and asks a judge to order it paid back. The August payout to Fesia Davenport was first revealed by LAist, months after it was approved and paid in secret by the county.

    The allegation: The lawsuit, filed by attorney Alexander K. Robinson on behalf of county resident Ana Cristina Lee Escudero, alleges the payout is illegal because Davenport did not have a valid legal dispute with the county. It also claims county supervisors illegally used the litigation exemption to discuss and approve the settlement in closed session, despite a letter from Davenport informing supervisors she had “no intentions of litigating this matter.”

    The response: A lawyer hired by the county, Mira Hashmall, called the lawsuit “baseless” in a statement. She previously said the settlement served a “legitimate public purpose" by avoiding potential litigation. Messages for comment on the lawsuit were not returned from Davenport, County Counsel Dawyn Harrison’s office or the five county supervisors’ offices.

    What the CEO had alleged: Records show the CEO payout was in response to claims by Davenport that she was harmed by a ballot measure approved by voters in 2024 that will create an elected county chief executive job at the county after her employment contract expires. Her payment demands said she suffered “reputational harm, embarrassment and physical, emotional and mental distress” caused by the ballot measure. Davenport went on medical leave in October and has not yet returned.

    The law: Under the state Constitution’s provision on illegal gifts of public funds, local government settlement payouts are illegal if they’re in response to allegations that completely lack legal merit, according to a court ruling describing how such cases have been decided. And a payout cannot exceed the agency’s “maximum exposure” from a claim, according to another appeals court ruling.

    The backlash: Leaders of unions that represent most of the county government’s workers previously told LAist many of their members have been shocked and outraged to learn Davenport negotiated a $2 million payout to herself, after they say she told workers there was no money to give them raises.

  • More Angelenos volunteer to monitor ICE raids
    Dozens of people sit around tables spread out in a large room.
    Rapid response groups that monitor their communities for immigration raids have seen a spike in new volunteers since the start of the year. Volunteers meet at a Unión del Barrio training session in late January 2026.

    Topline:

    As federal immigration enforcement raids continue across Los Angeles, a broader demographic of people is stepping up to volunteer their time to monitor and document immigration raids in their neighborhoods, according to Ron Gochez, organizer with the rapid‑response network Unión del Barrio.

    More details: While longtime Latino organizers have led the patrols, their numbers are growing thanks to the new volunteers who aren’t necessarily Latino. Unión del Barrio has outgrown their usual meeting space at the United Teachers union building in Koreatown, which used to draw a few dozen people.

    Spike in volunteers: Other immigrant advocacy groups say they’re seeing a similar surge in support. Representatives at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center report a spike in volunteers, donations, and attendance at “Know Your Rights” workshops.

    Read on... for more about the increase in volunteers.

    This story was originally published by The LA Local on Feb. 25, 2026.

    As federal immigration enforcement raids continue across Los Angeles, a broader demographic of people is stepping up to volunteer their time to monitor and document immigration raids in their neighborhoods, according to Ron Gochez, organizer with the rapid‑response network Unión del Barrio.

    “We have senior citizen retirees showing up saying, ‘I’m an old white woman — how can I help?’ We have students from community colleges and universities. We have people who look like longtime activists and people who look like they’ve never done this before,” he said. “It’s solidarity being shown by Angelenos of all shapes, sizes, colors and ages.”

    While longtime Latino organizers have led the patrols, their numbers are growing thanks to the new volunteers who aren’t necessarily Latino.

    Unión del Barrio has outgrown their usual meeting space at the United Teachers union building in Koreatown, which used to draw a few dozen people.

    Along with their patrols, the group supports families impacted by immigration raids and issues real-time alerts over social media.

    In late January, the day after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, about 400 people showed up for a training session, Unión del Barrio organizer Ron Gochez said.

    “The very next day, we had 1,000 people on a Zoom training for educators — and we couldn’t have more because the Zoom limit was 1,000,” Gochez said.

    Organizers in Pasadena expected a few dozen volunteers at All Saints Episcopal Church and were surprised when nearly 800 showed up for the training session, according to Pasadena Now.

    For the first time, the majority of volunteers at a recent training session were white, Gochez said.

    “I think the administration and ICE thought that by killing Alex (Pretti), that people would be scared and intimidated and would stop participating,” he said.

    Instead, it has had the opposite effect.

    Other immigrant advocacy groups say they’re seeing a similar surge in support. Representatives at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center report a spike in volunteers, donations, and attendance at “Know Your Rights” workshops.

    The legal advocacy group says they’re going to continue sustaining deportation defense, managed information hotlines, and expect that engagement to remain strong as federal immigration enforcement intensifies.

    A man with medium skin tone, wearing a red hoodie with a design on it, speaks while holding a megaphone with a strap over his shoulder. There are people behind him holding up red banners.
    Ron Gochez, a member of Unión del Barrio, speaks to volunteers in South Los Angeles in February 2025.
    (
    Andrew Lopez
    /
    Boyle Heights Beat
    )

    Residents living near Koreatown and Pico Union have seen a sharp increase in immigration raids in recent months. Unión del Barrio volunteer, Oscar, who provided only his first name out of concerns over retaliation from the federal government, has seen firsthand the effects of the raids.

    “This part of Los Angeles — Pico Union, K-town, MacArthur Park, Westlake — has been hit incredibly hard throughout the last year,” Oscar said, pointing to raids along the El Salvador Community Corridor in Pico Union. “They’ve gone up and down Pico multiple times.”

    Westlake, a dense immigrant neighborhood predominantly made up of renters and noncitizen workers, has also been identified as one of the most vulnerable areas in L.A. to ICE raids, according to a county-sponsored study.

    Oscar leads patrol training sessions, but before joining Union del Barrio, he patrolled his neighborhood with a friend to report on immigration enforcement. “It just didn’t feel like enough,” he said. “I wanted to be part of a space of dedicated organizers.”

    Overall, he’s seen more people working together across racial and gender lines, with a common goal of protecting their communities, helping deliver groceries to impacted famlies, monitor their neighborhoods and feel like they have something to do in the face of the ongoing immigration raids.

    Federal agents stand outside a black SUV as they put a person inside it.
    Immigration agents detain a man selling flowers in Boyle Heights on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.
    (
    Courtesy of Verita Topete
    /
    Centro CSO
    )

    “People are coming in angry, determined,” he said. “but ultimately I think people feel empowered during the training.”

    Unión del Barrio has expanded beyond its usual territory in South Los Angeles and the group now patrols in Boyle Heights, Long Beach, the San Fernando Valley, Beverly Hills and Brentwood, Gochez said.

    “We have eyes and ears everywhere,” Gochez said. “I’m very comfortable saying there are thousands of people patrolling in the greater L.A. area.”

    Although the group rarely solicits donations, Gochez said they have seen an uptick in funding, which helps cover costs from patrolling and printing “Know Your Rights” flyers and other materials.

    Despite the heightened attention, Unión del Barrio has not altered its training curriculum, making sure that volunteers are following the law, but also aware that their safety is not guaranteed when they head out to monitor the immigration raids.

    Organizers strongly discourage undocumented individuals or those on probation or parole from participating in community patrols, instead encouraging them to contribute in other ways.

    “We’re not trying to become martyrs,” Gochez said. “We don’t want to be arrested, beaten or killed. But there is risk involved.”

  • LA City Council makes pilot program permanent
    Crisis workers Alice Barber and Katie Ortiz sit in a white Penny Lane Centers crisis response vehicle. Both wear blue tops. Decals on the car read: "Penny Lane Centers: Transforming Lives."
    Crisis workers Alice Barber (L) and Katie Ortiz (R) sit in a Penny Lane Centers crisis response vehicle

    Topline:

    The L.A. City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to make permanent a city pilot program that diverts police away from some mental health crisis calls.

    The background: Since launching in 2024, clinicians with the city’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response pilot have handled more than 17,000 calls for service, ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. According to city reports, about 96% of those calls were resolved without police.

    The response: “We can’t keep deploying armed officers to handle mental health crisis calls because the outcome is Angelenos paying with loss of life and millions of their tax dollars for legal settlements,” Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who co-authored the motion to enshrine the program, said at Tuesday’s meeting.

    What’s next: The motion approved Tuesday also directs city officials to form a working group made up of the LAPD, the L.A. Fire Department and other agencies to address inefficiencies in the dispatch system.

    Read on... for more on how the program is also helping the city's finances.

    The L.A. City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to make permanent a city pilot program that diverts police away from some mental health crisis calls.

    Since launching in 2024, clinicians with the city’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response have handled more than 17,000 calls for service, ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. According to city reports, about 96% of those calls were resolved without police.

    “We can’t keep deploying armed officers to handle mental health crisis calls because the outcome is Angelenos paying with loss of life and millions of their tax dollars for legal settlements,” Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who co-authored the motion to enshrine the program, said at Tuesday’s meeting.

    According to Hernandez, in 2023, more than a third of LAPD shootings involved someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

    Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson said the data from city reports was "incontrovertible and unassailable," showing the program’s success at diverting police and fire first responders away from mental health crisis situations.

    Council members said the move to make the unarmed model permanent was also a matter of fiscal responsibility. According to a news release from the offices of Hernandez and Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, on average it costs the city roughly $85 per hour to dispatch LAPD officers, while a response from a UMCR team costs roughly $35 per hour.

    Last fall, progressive policy advocacy group LA Forward, convened a summit of local and state officials with the goal of making UMCR permanent and expanding it.

    Godfrey Plata, deputy director of LA Forward, told LAist his group was “incredibly excited” to see the city make the pilot program permanent.

    Plata said he sees enshrining the program as a first step in expanding the program citywide, which his group hopes to do by the 2028 Olympics.

    How the program works

    In 2024, the city partnered with three nonprofit organizations — Exodus Recovery, Alcott Center and Penny Lane Centers — to provide teams of trained clinicians in service areas spread across L.A. The teams are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the Police Department’s Devonshire, Wilshire, Southeast, West LA, Olympic and West Valley divisions.

    Crisis response workers are trained in de-escalation techniques, mental health, substance use, conflict resolution and more, according to a report on the program from the Office of City Administrative Officer. The teams don’t have the authority to order psychiatric holds for people in crisis, but they can work with them to find help locally, and spend more time on follow up than law enforcement can.

    In its first year, Los Angeles’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response sent teams of unarmed clinicians to  more than 6,700 calls for service, ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. Only about 4% were redirected to the LAPD. Average response times have been under 30 minutes.

    Examples of these interactions include members of the teams taking food to a woman who was crying and hungry, working with a business owner to engage with someone sleeping in a parking lot and sitting with a family for nearly three hours to help resolve a conflict involving a relative.

    What’s next

    The motion approved Tuesday also directs city officials to form a working group made up of the LAPD, the L.A. Fire Department and other agencies to address inefficiencies in the dispatch system. The goal of the working group will be to centralize unarmed crisis response dispatch and improve response times.