The Brief

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.

Who gathers this information? 

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.

More than 9% of people in LA County are undocumented 

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.

Immigrants in California by the numbers

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.

A growing population

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."

Focusing on LA County 

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.

Where are people from?

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.

Who is being targeted for deportation? 

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.

Mixed status families

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.

Economic contributions of undocumented workers

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Courtesy Los Angeles County Development Authority

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

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

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

Here’s who qualifies and how to apply

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

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

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

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

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Courtesy Los Angeles County Development Authority

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

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

Location, location, location

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sibling rivalry

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Topline:

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

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

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