The Brief

President Donald Trump returned to the White House this year promising to carry out the “largest deportation operation” in U.S. history.

On Friday, federal agents conducted a series of immigration sweeps across Los Angeles in the first large-scale enforcement action under the new Trump administration. The protests in L.A. were among numerous heated encounters between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents around the nation in recent days.

Local immigrants rights groups, which have braced for this for months, pushed back in protests marked by resistance and anger.

As top local leaders decried the arrests, White House officials promised they'd carry on more sweeps.

In light of this activity, we're looking back at a story first published in January detailing existing rights.

The context

California is home to the largest undocumented immigrant population in the U.S. More than 12% of the state’s high school students have at least one parent who is undocumented. For these families, mass deportation represents possible long-term separation, family upheaval and the potential loss of educational opportunities.

Regardless of their immigration status, people who live in the U.S. have constitutional rights. To ensure those rights are respected during interactions with immigration agents, advocates across the country have hosted workshops, in person and online.

In a webinar held earlier this year for the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), David Lawlor with the nonprofit’s College Legal Services Team, offered some advice to anxious college students who are undocumented or have at least one parent who is: In times of uncertainty, “focus on what you can control.”

“And one of the things you can control,” he said, “is knowing your rights.”

Although LAist can’t give you legal advice — you need an immigration lawyer for that — we talked to Lawlor and other legal experts about how people can learn their rights and be prepared to exercise them.

What are my rights if immigration officials come to my home?

Lisa Graybill, vice president of law and policy at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), said ICE agents sometimes have warrants issued by the Department of Homeland Security. These administrative warrants do not grant agents permission to enter your home.

Carolina Castañeda, a staff attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), said families should always keep their front doors closed.

If ICE agents knock on your door, you can ask to see a warrant, she said. A valid warrant must be signed by a judge and issued by a court. The agents can either show it to you through the window or slide it under the door.

If your door is open, that doesn’t give agents the right to enter. “It is still a private place,” Castañeda added, “but, unfortunately, it could be that they let themselves in, and it will be more difficult for people to assert their rights. ... We’ve heard of many instances where, if someone just slightly opens the door, they push it open and go in. And this is not right, as they need your permission or a judicial search warrant to be able to enter.”

Sample of a judicial warrant.

(

Central American Resource Center

)

Graybill also warned that ICE agents “have been known to use ruses.” In New Mexico, she said, agents pretended to be delivering pizza to get one family to open the door.

ILRC created a wallet-sized card to help citizens and noncitizens navigate these encounters. On one side, the card lists their constitutional rights, along with guidance. On the other side of the card, the nonprofit has listed phrases that can be used to communicate with ICE agents. These cards are available online in 36 languages and can be downloaded for free.

A sample card that can be printed at home. The IRLC ships red versions of the cards for free to nonprofits.

(

Courtesy of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center

)

How do I talk to an immigration agent?

Castañeda said families can “often feel overwhelmed” by the presence of ICE agents. In preparation for any potential encounters, she recommends practicing what to say and how to behave.

“It’s so difficult to do it when you're actually faced with the problem,” she said. “So we want to make sure that we're training adults and children in the household that whenever anybody comes to our door, we don't automatically open it, we ask who it is. We ask them to identify themselves. And then we want to make sure that, if we know it's immigration enforcement, that we're asserting our rights. We’re asserting our right to remain silent, we're not giving you permission to enter. If you have a judicial warrant, show it to us.”

Families can also show the ILRC card to the agents through the window, or slide it to them under the door, Castañeda said.

If ICE agents do have a judicial warrant, Graybill added, “ideally, you'd be able to reach an attorney and share a copy of that warrant before moving any further.”

“If you're not able to access an attorney quickly,” she said, read the warrant “very carefully” and “really scrutinize” what it gives agents a right to do.

What are my rights if immigration officials go to my job or school?

Just as you would at home, Castañeda said, “assert your right to remain silent. Do not sign anything. Ask to speak with an attorney.”

Agents who show up at a workplace might tell employees to make two lines, one for citizens and one for noncitizens.

If that occurs, Castañeda said, do not comply. “Usually what happens is that [agents] will start interrogating people about their immigration status,” she said.

“Stand still. Assert your right to remain silent. And, then, ask if you’re free to go,” Castañeda said. “Do not run away. Do not present any fake documents. Do not give out false information — don’t give them anything they can use against you.”

“Insist on the ability to speak with an attorney,” Graybill added.

What if I’m a business owner?

For business owners, Castañeda and Graybill also recommend preparing for a potential ICE visit.

“Make a written response plan ahead of time. And practice it, just like a fire drill," Graybill said.

Castañeda and Graybill noted that, without a warrant, ICE agents can only enter spaces that are open to the public. In a coffee shop, for instance, the kitchen and office space are usually solely open to employees. Business owners should “mark those areas, so that it’s clearly visible that they’re private,’” Castañeda said.

On college campuses, ICE agents likewise cannot enter a space that’s not open to the public without a judicial warrant, including dorm rooms and other areas that require a key card to access, Graybill added.

How else can I protect myself and my family?

In addition to knowing one’s rights and preparing to respond to ICE agents, legal experts recommend that families with members who do not have legal status in the U.S. consult with an attorney. “If folks have a pathway that could lead to residency and eventually citizenship, we want to make sure that we're doing that in advance,” Castañeda said.

Julie Mitchell, who founded CARECEN’s College Legal Services Team, said consulting with an attorney is especially crucial for young people. There are government programs that help, such as the Special Immigrant Juvenile classification, which is for people who’ve been abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent.

“Some forms of relief are only available until individuals turn 21,” Mitchell said. “Oftentimes, we’re encountering people who’ve aged out of some immigration options.”

Legal experts also recommend that families make a plan, in case they’re apprehended.

• Gather important documents.
  
  • That includes children’s birth certificates.
• If a parent grants another person permission to take care of their child, they need to describe what that will look like in writing, Castañeda said.
  
  • Can they take the child to school? 
  • Can they take them to medical appointments? 
  • Does the child need any medicine?
• Have emergency contact information for other family members.
  
  • For an undocumented family member, write down their date of birth and country of origin. “That's how people can search [for] you on the ICE inmate locator online,” Castañeda said.

• Undocumented family members should also gather any immigration documents.
  
  • “In case a person is detained, their family will have those documents available, to help defend them against the removal,” she added.

ILRC has a guide that describes how to create a comprehensive family preparedness plan step by step. Their free guide is available in English and Spanish.

“No one wants to do this, because it's thinking about being detained,” said Lawlor, of CARECEN. “But it is vital.”

Temps will climb a few degrees today with highs now reaching the mid-80s.

Along the Orange County coast, temperatures will range from 72 to 80 degrees, and between 79 and 85 degrees for inland areas.

The L.A. County beaches will see temperatures from 72 to 77 degrees, and between 80 and 83 degrees inland.

Temperatures in the valleys and the Inland Empire will stay in the mid-80s. Daytime highs in the Antelope Valley meanwhile will remain in the upper 60s to mid-70s range.

Facing legal challenges, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has withdrawn a policy that Los Angeles-area homelessness officials say would have caused thousands of people to lose their subsidized housing.

Most federal funding for homelessness programs flows into the L.A. region through HUD’s Continuum of Care grant competition program. Last month, HUD changed its funding rules, limiting how much local governments can spend on permanent housing to 30% of their award totals.

The region currently spends about 90% of its more than $200 million budget covering people’s rent, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

Why this matters

The HUD policy that was withdrawn Monday would have caused more than 5,000 households to lose their rental subsidies, officials said.

In recent weeks, California and other states sued HUD, claiming the new federal policies “guarantee that tens of thousands of formerly homeless individuals and families will be evicted back into homelessness.”

A U.S. district judge in Rhode Island was poised to consider an emergency request to block HUD’s controversial policy when the agency announced it would revoke it.

What's next

HUD authorities said they plan to issue a revised notice about the funding soon, according to a statement posted on the agency’s website.

LAHSA spokesperson Ahmad Chapman told LAist that the agency anticipates most of the HUD rule changes to remain in the revised notice. He also said LAHSA plans to keep moving forward with its funding application and reallocating more than $100 million away from permanent housing and toward other interventions. The submission deadline is Jan. 14.

“LAHSA will continue to monitor this situation closely and may extend or even cancel the process as circumstances warrant," Chapman said.

Sarah Mahin, director of L.A. County’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing, said the HUD policy would redirect funding from programs with proven track records and that have helped move people off the streets and into safe, permanent homes.

“We hope officials heed the warnings from countless homelessness and housing experts nationwide and continue to invest in what we know works: permanent housing accompanied by the supportive services that help people stay housed,” she said.

Raul Malo, the leader of the country band The Mavericks and one of the most recognizable voices in roots music, died Monday night, according to a representative of the band. The guitarist and singer had been battling cancer.

He was hospitalized last week, forcing him to miss tribute shows staged in his honor at the Ryman Auditorium over the weekend. He was 60 years old.

"No one embodied life and love, joy and passion, family, friends, music and adventure the way our beloved Raul did," read a statement released by his family.

Malo's group, The Mavericks, mourned the loss of their leader in a social post.

"Anyone with the pleasure of being in Raul's orbit knew that he was a force of human nature, with an infectious energy," the statement read. "Over a career of more than three decades entertaining millions around the globe, his towering creative contributions and unrivaled, generational talent created the kind of multicultural American music reaching far beyond America itself."

Over a career that lasted four decades, The Mavericks lived up to the band's name, challenging expectations and following a roadmap crafted by Malo's expansive musical upbringing as the son of Cuban immigrants in Miami.

"I grew up in a very musical household. There was all kinds of music around always," he told WHYY's Fresh Air in 1995. "We listened to everything from Hank Williams to Celia Cruz to Sam Cooke to Bobby Darin. It didn't matter."

In 1992, Malo told NPR that his widespread influences weren't always understood or appreciated in his South Florida hometown, but he said that his struggle to fit in taught him to trust his instincts. Malo had become the guitarist and lead singer for The Mavericks in 1989, alongside co-founders Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin, and his roaring, sentimental voice defined the band's sound and remained its constant as the group's catalog moved from slow, tender ballads to full-throttle rock songs. In 1995, the band released its biggest hit with "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down," a swinging country song featuring an assist from Tex-Mex accordion legend Flaco Jimenez.

As the band grew in members and devoted listeners, The Mavericks continued to push the boundaries of American music, weaving a richly layered tapestry of textures and stories. With more than a dozen studio albums, The Mavericks collected praise and recognition from the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association and the Recording Academy. Although they took a hiatus for several years, Malo never stopped making music — and returned to his bandmates with renewed inspiration.

Following its 30th anniversary, the group released its first full-length Spanish album in 2020, aptly titled En Español. The record reimagined Latin standards and folklore-tinged popular tunes; it also made an implicit political statement about Latin music's contributions to American culture.

"In our own little way, if we could get somebody that perhaps is on the fence on issues and hears us singing in Spanish and perhaps reminds them of the beautiful cultures that make up what this country is trying to be and what it should be, so be it," Malo told NPR at the time. "Yeah, I'm OK with that."

The following year, the Americana Music Association recognized The Mavericks with the Trailblazer Award. In 2024, the band released its last studio album, Moon & Stars. The release coincided with news of Malo's cancer diagnosis, which he discussed openly with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.

Before being hospitalized last week, Malo had been scheduled to perform with The Mavericks at a pair of tribute concerts held this past weekend at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Over 30 artists, including Patty Griffin, Jim Lauderdale and Steve Earle, still gathered to pay tribute to Malo, with some of the proceeds of the night going to the cancer prevention organization Stand Up To Cancer.

According to his spokesperson, though Malo was too ill to attend, the concert was streamed to his hospital room Friday night.

Copyright 2025 NPR

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has mostly blocked efforts to investigate misconduct within its ranks, according to the county inspector general, who announced his retirement Tuesday after 12 years on the job.

In an open letter, Max Huntsman cited examples of how the county has thwarted his efforts to watchdog the department, which in the past has been plagued with accusations that deputies use excessive force and lie on the job.

Huntsman said one example is former Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s misuse of criminal enforcement powers to discredit critics, such as opening an investigation into former County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.

Villanueva was sheriff from 2018 to 2022.

“My requests for investigation were rejected,” Huntsman’s letter reads. “Even after receiving an official subpoena, the Sheriff’s Department has failed to turn over records regarding the improper surveillance.”

He added: “Sometimes members of the public wonder if frightening new surveillance techniques will be used for improper purposes under the guise of criminal investigation. Sadly, the answer is yes.”

Before becoming inspector general in 2013, Huntsman, 60, was a deputy district attorney who specialized in public corruption. He told LAist on Tuesday that the inspector general job wasn’t something he wanted initially.

“I didn’t want to go work for politicians,” he said. “But the need to provide some kind of independent reporting and analysis was significant.”

The Sheriff’s Department issued a statement saying it valued the Office of the Inspector General and all county oversight bodies and that it wished Huntsman and his family well in his retirement.

The department said it “continues to make great strides in advancing the department in a transparent manner.”

LAist also reached out to the county CEO and county counsel for comment, but they declined.

After George Floyd

In the letter, Huntsman says the state of California has come a long way in strengthening the power of local law enforcement oversight bodies, in part because of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.

After widespread protests — and lobbying by Huntsman — the state provided authority to inspectors general to enforce subpoenas requiring law enforcement agencies to hand over documents and authorized external investigation of police misconduct, including deputy gang conduct.

The Sheriff’s Department — backed by county lawyers — has resisted.

“Los Angeles County may not follow those laws, but it will not be able to avoid them forever,” Huntsman wrote. “The county refuses to require the photographing of suspected gang tattoos in secretive groups that the undersheriff has identified as violating state law.”

“Just a few weeks ago, we requested some information regarding an investigation, and a pair of commanders refused to give it to us,” Huntsman said in an interview with LAist.

Origin of the office 

The Inspector General’s Office was created by the county Board of Supervisors in 2013 in response to a scandal that included former Sheriff Lee Baca covering up the abuses of jail inmates.

Baca went to federal prison.

Since then, the office has issued dozens of reports with recommendations for improving living conditions inside jails that some have described as “filthy,” stopping abuses of juveniles inside juvenile halls and providing shower privacy for inmates as part of the requirements under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

“All of these abuses were reported by the Office of Inspector General and recommendations were ignored,” Huntsman wrote. Often, it took court orders to enact change.

“When we first blew the whistle on the torturous chaining of mentally ill prisoners to benches for 36 hours at a time, it was only a court order that ended the practice,” he wrote. “Time and time again, this pattern repeated itself.”

Huntsman wrote the county has permitted the Sheriff’s Department to block oversight and defunded the Office of Inspector General by removing a third of its staff.

“It's not surprising the county has driven out two successive chairs of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission,” he wrote.

“Government always claims to value transparency and accountability, but shooting the messenger is still the most common response to criticism,” Huntsman wrote.

Despite setbacks, Huntsman values work 

Huntsman told LAist on Tuesday that he was proud of his career as a public servant.

“I’ve really enjoyed the work and I’m sad to have it end,” he said.

It’s a sentiment he echoed in his letter, adding that despite the setbacks and roadblocks, he was proud of the people with whom he shared the office.

“It has been my honor to work with a talented, brave and tireless group of public servants to ensure that the public knows what its government is doing,” he wrote.

He noted the inspector general’s reports are fact-checked by the office and public.

“When government abuses occur, they are sometimes kept secret, but that is no longer the case for much of what is happening in Los Angeles County,” Huntsman wrote. “What you do about it is up to you.,”

Huntsman’s last day is Friday.