Topline:
Recent research from the USC Equity Research Institute estimates that nearly 950,000 undocumented immigrants live in L.A. County. That's more than 9% of people in the county who lack legal status.
What else: When researchers widen the lens to include people who are undocumented or living with an undocumented family member, that number jumps to nearly 20%, or almost one in five people.
Keep reading ... for what we do and don’t know about Angelenos without full legal status.
The Trump administration's laser focus on identifying and uprooting people without legal status in Los Angeles has disrupted normal life in whole swaths of the city since June.
Corridors typically alive with street vendors have been quiet. Volunteers have been monitoring Home Depots for federal agents. And across the region, some people are staying home from work and school, afraid they may encounter ICE agents.
That this is a fractured and frightening time in the region for immigrant communities is undisputed.
Getting a fuller picture of people without legal status who live and work here is more complex.
To better understand our communities and neighbors, LAist looked into what we do and don’t know about Angelenos without full legal status.
The U.S. Census conducted every 10 years is supposed to be a head count of everyone living in the country at that moment in time — and agnostic on their immigration status. The population count affects a whole range of things, notably how political representation is determined and how federal dollars are allocated.
Since 1960, the Census has not asked respondents about their citizenship status. An effort to add that question in 2020 by the first Trump administration was met with significant pushback. Critics said it would have a chilling effect and depress participation of non-citizens and their relatives — ultimately leaving us without a full count of who lives here.
Still, the government keeps estimates of the number of people living in the U.S. without authorization. Academics and organizations also do the work of counting the people living in the U.S. without legal status. Their research offers a closer look at the many people who are undocumented in L.A. and the surrounding area.
Recent research from the USC Equity Research Institute looks at L.A. County specifically, estimating nearly 950,000 undocumented immigrants live here. That's more than 9% of people in the county who lack legal status.
When researchers widen the lens to include people who are undocumented or living with an undocumented family member, that number jumps to nearly 20%, or almost one in five people.
To compile their estimates, USC researchers use surveys conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, take the number of non-citizen immigrants and remove the people that have legal status, according to Prof. Manuel Pastor, director of the Equity Research Institute. The latest data they used is from 2023.
The results indicate the depth and breadth of the impact of ramped-up immigration enforcement in L.A. this summer. Masked federal agents have detained parents, people who have been in the U.S. for decades, and even some U.S. citizens.
" I think it's useful for Angelenos to realize how ubiquitous it is to be without documentation," Pastor said.
California has more immigrants than any other state — around 10.6 million people out of a total population of more than 39 million in 2023, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Most immigrants in California have legal status. More than half are U.S. citizens, according to California officials. In 2022, 83% of immigrants in California either were citizens or had other legal residency status, such as a green card or a visa.
Estimates of exactly how many undocumented people are living in California vary. The Department of Homeland Security estimated 2.6 million unauthorized immigrants were living in California.
According to Pew Research Center, in 2023, California was home to around 2.3 million immigrants without full legal status. That number includes people in a variety of situations, including those with some level of legal protections, like asylum applicants, DACA recipients, and people who have been granted temporary protected status.
California is home to the largest cohort of DACA recipients in the nation. As of 2024, more than a quarter of the around 538,000 active recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals live in California, according to government data. That status protects undocumented young adults who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and allows them work authorization.
People without full legal status in California have a wide range of national origins. Nearly half of the state's undocumented population is from Mexico, according to a report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and UC Merced. The vast majority of that group — 80% — have been in the U.S. for more than 15 years.
In recent years, more people have arrived in the state from Central America and Asia. The report attributes the shifting demographics of new arrivals to improved economic prospects in Mexico and growing economic and political instability in Central America and countries like China and India.
The Trump administration ran on a campaign promise of mass deportations, in part in response to a rise in immigration to the U.S. after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Estimates of exactly how many undocumented people are in the country and how that number has changed vary. According to the Pew Research Center, the number of unauthorized immigrants in 2023 was 14 million, up from 10.5 million in 2021 — a 33% increase.
By comparison, California's unauthorized population grew around 23% in that time period, according to Pew's estimates. In 2023, the state was home to around 2.3 million undocumented immigrants, a bump of around 425,000 compared to 2021.
The increase specifically in Los Angeles was even smaller around that same time period — 15% according to USC’s Pastor.
"We did not get the gigantic influx of shocking new immigrants that the rest of the country did," Pastor told LAist. "We got some, but mostly they went to other parts of the country."
USC estimates that 948,700 people in L.A. County are undocumented, out of a total population of 10.1 million. Most people without legal status have been in the U.S. for more than a decade, according to those estimates. Some 73% arrived in the country more than 10 years ago, while 18% of people have been here for 31 years or more.
Most undocumented immigrants in L.A. County — 83.8% — are Latino. The next largest group is Asian Americans, who make up 10.6% of the county's undocumented immigrants.
The largest share of undocumented immigrants in L.A. County come from Mexico, followed by Guatemala and El Salvador. USC estimates that more than 343,000 Mexican people without legal status live in the county.
A share of L.A.'s undocumented population are Indigenous migrants from Mexico and Central America, but the number is difficult to estimate, according to USC. According to a separate report from the Equity Research Institute and advocacy group CIELO, the county is home to at least 24 Indigenous migrant communities, including Zapotec and K’iche’.
Chinese people make up the fourth-largest group of undocumented people by ancestry, according to the report. That estimate is 32,600.
As the federal government has ramped up deportations across the country, it has made a particularly visible effort here in L.A.
Federal officials have defended the enforcement actions, saying they’re targeting people with criminal records.
LAist found that as an average since last October, only about 18% of those detained in California ICE facilities have had any criminal convictions.
Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens in L.A. County live with family members who are undocumented — more than 863,000 according to USC estimates.
Those numbers are particularly striking for children. More than half of citizens living with undocumented family members are younger than 17 years old. In the county, 20% of children under the age of 5 have at least one parent who does not have legal status.
As federal immigration raids in Southern California have separated workers from their families and children, many left behind are struggling with making ends meet and paying rent. Eighty percent of undocumented immigrants in the county are renters.
"With fears around ICE raids and the possibility that undocumented workers may choose not to show up for work, there is also a great risk of missing rent payments and becoming even more vulnerable to losing housing," the USC report reads.
The vast majority of undocumented immigrants in L.A. County are of working age: 90% are between 18 and 64. Just 1% are 65 or older, according to USC's data.
The report points to the major role undocumented workers play in the local economy. According to USC's estimates, 37% of cleaning and maintenance workers and 25% of food preparation and service workers in L.A. County are undocumented.
The industry with the highest percentage of undocumented workers is construction (40%), which is already experiencing a labor shortage and will be key to rebuilding parts of the county destroyed in the January fires.
Immigrants without legal status in the county also contribute billions in taxes. In 2023, USC estimates undocumented immigrants paid more than $3.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes.
Jordan Rynning contributed to this report.
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You can see and cheer on the U.S. Men’s soccer team before the World Cup, for free, in SoCal.
Where: The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team is practicing in Irvine’s Great Park during the World Cup’s group play. The team’s first practice, on Monday, June 8, will be open to about 7,000 people, for free. Tickets will be given out through a lottery.
How to register: Registration is open now and closes at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 25. Each registration is limited to two tickets. Notifications will be sent by email on May 29.
The link: You can register for the lottery here.
The backstory: The city of Irvine submitted its application to be the U.S. Men’s National Team base camp in 2022. A spokesperson for the team says Irvine was picked because of the high quality of its facilities, access to nearby hotels, and the city’s enthusiasm to create a supportive environment for the team.
What's next: The U.S. Men’s National Team plays Paraguay on June 12 at Sofi Stadium in their first game of the 2026 World Cup.
Go deeper: Your guide to the World Cup games in LA.
Will you ever get to see U.S. Men’s soccer captain Christian Pulisic on a soccer pitch at or near field level? Perhaps, for thousands of dollars on June 12 when Pulisic and the team take on Paraguay at SoFi in Inglewood for their first match in the World Cup.
But you can see Pulisic and his team in action four days before that match — at their practice facility down the freeway at the Great Park in Irvine. And it's free.
“This is going to be so epic," said Melissa Haley, Irvine’s engagement director.
The city worked for four years to be selected as the training facility for the U.S. Men’s team and made it a priority to hold a community day.
“I think it's… more than just hosting the team, it's about that connection, the historic connection because this is probably a once in a generation opportunity,” for Irvine to share the hosting of the team with area residents, Haley said.
Fans need to register online for a chance to get tickets, which will be picked by lottery. Each registration is limited to two tickets, and 7,000 tickets will be given out. Sign-ups are now open and end this coming Monday, May 25 at 10 a.m. Winners will be notified by email on May 29.
You can register for the lottery here.
After the practice, a “Pitchside Kickoff” festival will be held outside the stadium for the general public. No tickets are needed for that. The festival will include booths, exhibitions, music, food, raffles, and giveaways.
The World Cup begins June 11. Read more of LAist's coverage here.
Source: City of Irvine, check the city’s website for updates.
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The Santa Monica Airport is set to close at the end of 2028. Proponents of turning it into a park say all 227 acres should be reserved for green space. But with rents out of reach for many Westside workers, others are fighting to set aside some land for affordable housing.
The ballot initiative: Proponents of an initiative aiming to qualify for the November ballot want Santa Monica voters to approve using 25% of the airport’s land for 3,000 units of low- and moderate-income housing. The other 75% would be kept as a park.
The opposition: Park supporters say they don’t want to sacrifice airport land for any other use, housing or otherwise. Back in 2014, more than 60% of the city’s voters approved a ballot measure to turn the airport into a park.
Why it matters: The competing visions for the future of the Santa Monica Airport highlight tensions over creating more affordable housing in wealthy communities where thousands of people work, but can’t afford to live.
Read on… to learn why one Santa Monica hotel worker supports the measure, and why others say it’s just not the right location for thousands of apartments.
Wide-open land on L.A.’s Westside is rare. And where it does exist, it’s extremely expensive. But Santa Monica will soon get a chance to redevelop an amount of land unprecedented in the city’s recent history.
The Santa Monica Airport is set to close at the end of 2028. Residents have supported turning it into a park. Proponents of that approach say all 227 acres should be reserved for green space.
But with rents out of reach for many Westside workers, others are fighting to set aside some land for affordable housing.
“If we don’t do it here, I don't know where we’ll get it done in such big numbers,” said Ralph Mechur, a member of the pro-housing group Cloverfield Commons and a proponent of a measure now aiming to qualify for the November ballot.
The ballot initiative would ask Santa Monica voters to approve using 25% of the airport’s land for 3,000 units of low- and moderate-income housing. The other 75% would be kept as a park.
But park proponents don’t want to sacrifice any of the airport land.
“It's not to do with housing, per se,” said Frank Gruber with the Santa Monica Great Park Coalition. “Somebody could say to me, we need 20 acres to build a laboratory that will guarantee that we will cure cancer — we'd still be opposed to it.
“This land, every square foot, we think of as precious for the park,” he said.
The competing visions for the future of the Santa Monica Airport highlight tensions over creating more affordable housing in wealthy communities where thousands of people work, but can’t afford to live.
One of those workers is Luis Martinez. He spends up to 90 minutes commuting from his home in Canoga Park to his job as a server and bartender at Santa Monica’s Fairmont Miramar Hotel.
Martinez recently worked eight days in a row, picking up shifts from co-workers. It was great for his paycheck, he said, but all those hours stuck in traffic were not great for his wife and 2-year-old son.
“He doesn't see me as much, because I'm always working,” Martinez said. “The time is what makes him miss me. It puts a strain on us.”
Martinez’s family moved into their one-bedroom apartment three years ago with a monthly rent of $1,900. At the time, he said, they would have needed to spend at least $2,800 to rent a comparable apartment near the Fairmont.
“I cannot afford that,” he said. “I know it's a good place to raise a family. I would love to live there if I could afford it.
Martinez belongs to the union Unite Here Local 11, which is helping to collect signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
The measure would ask voters to make half of the 3,000 apartments available to renters earning up to 80% of the area’s median income. The rest would be reserved for middle-income workers earning up to 120% of the area median. If the apartments were built today, L.A. County's current income limits would disqualify individuals earning more than $89,550 and families of four earning more than $127,900.
“It begins to provide housing for our kids, our grandkids, possibly your teachers, janitors, cooks and hotel workers who might be priced out of lower-income affordable housing,” said Mechur, who supports the ballot initiative.
In 2014, more than 60% percent of Santa Monica voters supported Measure LC, which instructed the city to “prohibit new development on airport land, except for parks, public open spaces and public recreational facilities.”
But that measure left open the possibility to change plans through another public vote. In the current cycle of state-mandated housing goals, Santa Monica must plan to allow about 6,100 units of affordable housing by 2029.
“Here's an opportunity to build up to 3,000 units in one time period, to help reach numbers that will provide housing for people who need to be in Santa Monica,” Mechur said.
Planes have been taking off at the Santa Monica Airport site for more than a century. Pilots who flew in and out of the airport include Amelia Earhart and the first team to aerially circumnavigate the globe.
During World War II, the nearby Douglas Aircraft Company built military planes. To provide aerial camouflage during the war, the entire airport was covered with chicken wire, on which Hollywood set designers built lightweight structures made to look like rows of suburban homes.
But by the 1970s, nearby residents were lodging frequent complaints about noise and pollution. After decades of arguments, the Federal Aviation Administration agreed in 2017 to let Santa Monica close the airport after Dec. 31, 2028.
Frank Gruber, one of the park supporters, said the aviation industry tried to fight closure of the airport by telling residents it could end up being used for high-rise developments. He said changing plans now could reopen the question of keeping the airport.
Plus, Gruber argued, this land is not a great location now that the city has changed policies to encourage affordable housing elsewhere.
“There's no provision for putting schools there,” Gruber said. “There's no provision for supermarkets. They're basically creating isolated super blocks, to use that urbanism kind of expression, where people would be car dependent. It just doesn't make sense.”
The ballot measure would not include specific plans for funding new housing. It would only change land use to allow residential development. Proponents say because the city owns the land, housing revenue could help fund park facilities, which the city also needs to budget for.
While driving through slow-crawling traffic along the Sepulveda Pass, Luis Martinez — the Fairmont hotel worker — said his Westside roots run deep.
Martinez grew up in South L.A., but he would wake up early to attend Paul Revere Charter Middle School and Palisades Charter High School. Later, he studied at Santa Monica College.
“I grew up being in traffic,” Martinez said. “I grew up commuting.”
After eight years of working at the Fairmont Hotel, he said he feels even more connected to Santa Monica. And he believes workers like him deserve a chance to live there.
“It's such a good environment for kids to grow up, and I want my kid to be a part of that,” Martinez said. “Everyone's very involved in what happens in Santa Monica. They're very informed. They're very pro-Santa Monica. It's its own community. Just know that we want to be part of that community, too.”
Ballot initiative proponents need to turn in 7,038 valid signatures by mid-June to qualify for the November ballot.
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A new analysis of alerts sent during the Eaton Fire found “no failure” by emergency officials to issue timely evacuation orders to areas west of Lake Avenue in Altadena.
Why it matters: The timing of alerts to neighborhoods west of Lake, where all but one of 19 deaths in that fire occurred, has been under scrutiny since the January 2025 fire.
Why now: The independent report by Citygate Associates was commissioned by the L.A. County Fire Department at the start of this year and was released Monday.
Read on ... for more on the main takeaways and local responses.
A new analysis of alerts sent during the Eaton Fire found “no failure” by emergency officials to issue timely evacuation orders to areas west of Lake Avenue in Altadena.
The timing of alerts to neighborhoods west of Lake, where all but one of 19 deaths in that fire occurred, has been under scrutiny since the January 2025 fire.
The independent report by Citygate Associates was commissioned by the L.A. County Fire Department at the start of this year and was released Monday.
Its conclusions are similar to those of after-action reports from other firms — that officials did the best they could amid unprecedented fire conditions and strained resources.
“While the report provides an honest account of our operations, we recognize that no investigation can truly capture the horror and tragedy residents endured,” said L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone in a prepared statement. “My focus is to ensure that the lessons learned from the Eaton and Palisades fires are turned into lasting changes that will better protect our residents and neighborhoods into the future.”
Altadena resident Zaire Calvin — whose sister died in the fire and whose own home burned down — said the report feels like another “slap in the face.” He said he wanted to see details on any mistakes that may have been made. But reading the report, he felt blame was once again largely placed on unprecedented fire conditions.
“A community that's already down, a community that's fighting for their lives, a community that's fighting all of the people trying to take property from them — at some point you just want accountability,” Calvin said.
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena, said in a prepared statement that the “investigation should not be interpreted as dismissing the experiences of residents. Public trust requires both accountability and a willingness to learn from every aspect of a disaster response.”
Citygate Associates, which produced an after-action report on the 2018 Woolsey Fire, used interviews, operational records, dispatch records and internal communications to analyze decisionmaking between 9 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2025, and 6 a.m. the following day.
Some of the main findings include the following:
Find the full report here.
Topline:
The city of Huntington Beach must pay $50,000 for each month it fails to comply with the state’s mandate to zone for more housing, according to a recent court ruling. The city has been fighting the state's order to make way for 40,000 new homes.
The backstory: State law requires California cities and counties to plan for enough housing to meet the expected demand over an eight-year time period, including for low-income housing. Huntington Beach, citing its independence as a charter city, has fought its most recent housing allocation all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to review the case last year.
What does the city say? In a statement, Casey McKeon, the city’s mayor, said the city “strongly opposes these penalties and will continue fighting for the rights of our residents and for the principle of local control against ongoing efforts by the Attorney General to centralize land use authority in Sacramento.”
Read more ... on this bitter showdown
Huntington Beach must pay $50,000 for each month it continues to fail to comply with the state’s mandate to zone for more housing, according to a recent court ruling. For several years now, the city has been waging a court battle against the state's order to make way for 40,000 new homes.
The judge ruled that the city should be penalized $10,000 per month going back to January 2025, and then fined $50,000 per month, starting next month, until the city gets a compliant housing element approved.
State law requires California cities and counties to plan for enough housing to meet the expected demand over an eight-year time period, including for low-income housing. Huntington Beach, citing its independence as a charter city, has fought its most recent housing allocation all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to review the case last year.
No. Cities are not required to actually build housing, but rather to make sure their zoning and land use codes accommodate the amount of housing assigned to them through what’s known as the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).
In a statement, Casey McKeon, the city’s mayor, said the city “strongly opposes these penalties and will continue fighting for the rights of our residents and for the principle of local control against ongoing efforts by the Attorney General to centralize land use authority in Sacramento.”
Yes. Huntington Beach is an outlier in its aggressive fight against the state housing mandates. More than 90% of California’s 539 jurisdictions are in compliance with the state requirement to plan for the amount of housing assigned to them through the latest RHNA cycle.
The city recently posted draft revisions to its housing plan — for the first time since 2021. That’s significant because the city’s efforts to come into state compliance have been paused for years.
One complication with compliance: Huntington Beach residents voted to require any major changes to the city’s zoning, including its state-mandated housing plan, to be put up for a public vote. That could mean more delays in coming into state compliance, and consequently, more fines, at a time when the city is facing a budget crunch.
You can find the city’s housing plan, including draft revisions, on the city’s website.
The public has until May 21 at 5 p.m. to comment on the revised plan by sending an email to housingelement@surfcity-hb.org.
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