Leslie Berestein Rojas
My focus is on our coverage of L.A.’s communities of color and immigrant diasporas. Before this, I spent 10 years covering immigrant communities for KPCC.
When I was a kid, my family left Cuba and landed in Huntington Park. I grew up there, speaking Spanish at home and steeped in Southeast L.A.’s beautiful Latinidad. I love telling the stories of L.A. and its people. Now, I get to help shape those stories and work with talented reporters to hone their craft.
I’ve also covered immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border, reported stories in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and done lots more for large newspapers and national magazines.
Among the things I love about L.A.: family, food from everywhere, signs in dozens of languages, the smells of chaparral and dusty freeways, the downtown skyline as you cross a bridge from the east. Mostly, I love that it’s home.
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The results of the recent homeless count showed fewer unhoused people sleeping outdoors in L.A. But for unhoused Latinos, the region's largest unhoused population, finding solutions remains a challenge. -
L.A. County officials are securing funding for a planned SELA Cultural Center in South Gate, including support for artists and art programs in the region before the center becomes a reality.
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Mariachi USA festival founder and producer Rodri Rodriguez was born in Cuba and settled in Los Angeles in her teens. Amid the city’s vibrant Mexicanidad, she fell in love with traditional Mexican music. Here she shares why she sees L.A. as a cultural “arroz con pollo,” where Latinidad finds common ground.
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Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was elected Mexico’s first female president in the nation’s first electoral face-off between two female presidential candidates. But many local Mexican citizens who had hoped to cast a ballot at the local consulate couldn’t do so.
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Orange County officials say the goal is to make the new office a central hub that can connect local immigrants and refugees with critical county and community services.
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Latinos make up a disproportionate share of Angelenos experiencing “doubled up” homelessness — staying with family or friends to remain housed.
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Metro’s board has approved a final environmental impact report for an extension of the E Line, part of the former Gold Line.
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A recently opened pocket park on Mathews Street in Boyle Heights contains unique public art: A fountain surrounded by tiles with QR codes that, when scanned, reveal oral histories from the diverse communities that over the years have called the neighborhood home.
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The Los Angeles City Council voted to get rid of so-called “no-vending” zones in February. But a lawsuit filed in 2022 by Hollywood street vendors against the city continues on as vendors seek to repeal tickets and remaining restrictions.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May budget revision leaves in place some steep cuts to state-funded services that benefit immigrants, including legal help for undocumented students.
