How Vietnamese Americans built Southern California’s massive nail industry Fifty years after the Vietnam War, these immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs are redefining the beauty industry.

Avocado Heights won’t let ICE or zoning laws stop their Guadalupe celebration In the San Gabriel Valley, hundreds gather every December 12 for a Virgin of Guadalupe procession with horses, banda and danza azteca that brings neighbors together.

More animals than ever are dying on Los Angeles streets Abandoned pets, increased urban sprawl are causing roadkill numbers to spike.

ICE took their family members. The holidays aren’t the same "The days are coming where family gets together with pozole, enchiladas, but we don’t know what we’re going to do.” lapublicpress.org/2025/12/ice-...

LA County buried 2,308 unclaimed Angelenos last week — nearly 500 more than the year before. Since 1896, LA has held an annual ceremony in Boyle Heights to honor those who died without next of kin to claim their remains. bit.ly/4oY1b1z

Hey, Los Angeles! LA County's rent relief application for tenants affected by the ICE raids opened this morning. But tenant advocates question how effective the program will be in protecting tenants from eviction. Learn more here: lapublicpress.org/2025/12/la-r...

A refugee-run kitchen is bringing LA together with food At Flavors from Afar in East Hollywood, a Palestinian holiday dinner becomes an act of cultural preservation — complete with tableside maqlubeh flips and a DJ playing sounds that “heal you on a molecular level.”

Who is Rae Huang, the challenger seeking to oust Karen Bass from the left? I get into the meat and bones of her campaign promises and whether she can actually meet the moment that LA is in right now. More in my latest for @lapublicpress.bsky.social and @19thnews.org: 19thnews.org/2025/12/rae-...

This single mom is squeezed by LA’s cost of living. Now she’s running for mayor. Progressive housing advocate Rae Huang is challenging Karen Bass for Los Angeles mayor, promising free transit and social housing.

Huntington Park just gave renters more time to pay rent amid ICE raids. Housing advocates call the eviction ordinance “bare minimum” as federal immigration enforcement threatens to displace families across Southeast L.A. lapublicpress.org/2025/12/hunt...

Metro made Open Streets permanent but tied most funding to Olympics, World Cup. The decision ties popular programs like Ciclavia to upcoming major sporting events but advocates are hopeful the agency will free up funding for events outside that timeframe. lapublicpress.org/2025/12/metr...

On Tuesday night, the City of Huntington Park passed an amendment to the rent stabilization ordinance to allow renters to be up to one month behind on rent before facing eviction. Housing organizers in SELA said they believe this threshold is a first step in the right direction.

How to report foul odors in your LA County neighborhood to air quality officials. Southern California residents can submit complaints about odors, asbestos, dust, gasoline dispensing and other air quality concerns to the district. If the air outside smells like rotten eggs, call the AQMD.

LA rent relief is coming. But as immigration raids continue, it might not close the gap. Tenant organizers are still pressuring County leadership to pass an eviction moratorium. lapublicpress.org/2025/12/la-r...

The LA County Board of Supervisors voted today to approve the mask ordinance, requiring law enforcement — including federal agents — to show their faces and visible identification during most public encounters. Whether the measure can be enforced is now expected to be decided by the courts.

California’s farmworkers face ICE raids, deadly heat and pollution all at once. Volunteers now deliver food directly to SoCal trailer parks because families are too afraid to leave home. lapublicpress.org/2025/12/cali...

California launches online portal to report federal agent misconduct The reports will be collected by the California Department of Justice to create a record of unlawful contact by federal agents and inform legal action the state may take to defend Californians’ rights.

Metro board approves Dodger stadium gondola despite heavy protests. Protestors temporarily shut down the Thursday board meeting after the gondola vote was placed on the consent agenda, which would have prevented public discussion by agency directors. lapublicpress.org/2025/12/metr...

The coalition of LA residents who oppose the Dodger Stadium gondola shut down the Metro board of directors meeting Thursday. They forced the meeting into recess and demanded that officials at minimum allow public discussion on the project. This is a developing story.

LAPD can continue to use military weapons, foam bullets and tear gas after City Council vote. The LA City Council voted 8-4 to let LAPD keep using foam bullets and tear gas despite documented misuse during this summer’s anti-ICE protests and over $50M in civil rights violation payouts last year.

California gas utilities are using your money to push gas on LA wildfire survivors. California’s utility regulator said it would eliminate ratepayer-funded incentives for gas appliances in new construction, but created an exception that allows rebates for them in wildfire rebuilds.

I’m proud of this recent story about neighbors practicing multiracial solidarity against ICE. I need your support to keep my work going! LA Public Press needs to raise $300k to continue producing journalism for all of LA County: givebutter.com/journalism2025 Donations up to $1k will be doubled!

It’s GIVING ✨💅 Tuesday, LA! With just $10, you can help us reach 100 new monthly members by signing up today! givebutter.com/journalism2025

Trump’s HIV cuts are devastating California’s Black and Latino communities. The $1.5 billion in federal funding cuts will shutter testing, outreach and housing programs—while one LA nonprofit has already lost more than half its budget. lapublicpress.org/2025/12/trum...

For the first time in it's 111 year history, LA public defenders will defend clients in immigration court. A new unit at the LA County Public Defender’s office will do something unprecedented in the county: defend immigrants in court facing deportation. bit.ly/48KAPLm

Putrid odors in this nook of South Gate has one resident calling it the “armpit” of the city. Residents have filed over 100 odor complaints citing smells like rotten eggs and warm garbage to air quality regulators. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/sout...

Self-reflection, education, volunteering, collaboration, consistency. Neighbors are doing what they can to unite Black + Brown communities in Chicago + LA, at a time when the need for such solidarity has rarely been more obvious. w/ @lapublicpress.bsky.social: blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/24/h...

How residents in LA and Chicago are building multiracial solidarity against ICE. Violent immigration crackdowns, looming safety net cuts and arrests of street vendors are pushing Black and Latine residents in both cities to organize around their common ground.

As the holiday season ramps up, many organizations have put together food giveaways for families struggling with food and nutrition insecurity. There are also opportunities for folks to volunteer with distributing and prepping groceries and food. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/food...

How trans organizers convinced LA to treat ICE raids like a natural disaster. As LA’s 23,000 undocumented LGBTQ immigrants face ‘immediate risk’ of deportation, organizers have secured an emergency declaration and health centers expanded home-based care for people too afraid to leave.

"El Chapo is like a son to me." "I told him I would fight for his dogs." "[T]rying to reunite Salazar with El Chapo hasn't been easy." To help Fernando Salazar reunite with his son: www.gofundme.com/f/reunite-fe... #California #USA #Mexico #Incarceration #Deportation #EthnicCleansing #Animals

An LA day laborer was deported to Mexico. His dog was left behind. Now, a network of volunteers are raising funds and navigating airline rules to send El Chapo to his owner in Mexico.

Thank you to the local press all over -- keep the stories coming and we will try to spread them!

The federal immigration raids are STILL happening in LA. National media might've moved on, but we're not. Support LA Public Press. 💪 givebutter.com/journalism2025

How LA employers and labor groups are trying to shield workers from ICE. Here are some tactics unions and employers at farms, factories, restaurants and other job sites are using to protect employees from immigration raids.

Meet the L.A. print makers weaponizing art against ICE. When Trump’s LA immigration raids ramped up this summer, local artists and a Hollywood print shop gave away thousands of free protest signs—and they’re still showing up across the city.

LA’s immigration defense organizers are burning out. Here’s how they keep going. From 5 a.m. patrols to panic calls about family kidnappings, organizers defending LA’s immigrant communities are working 12-hour days—and struggling to keep it up.

Law enforcement physically attacked 72 journalists covering immigration in LA this year—more than double the city’s 2020 BLM protest total, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/indy...

These LA volunteers are fighting back by documenting what happens inside immigration courts. With mass ICE arrests in LA, Court Watch volunteers are exposing judges who refuse observers, broken translation services, and due process violations at Adelanto detention center.

How whistles, sirens and voices are slowing LA’s deportation machine — Bystanders are becoming first responders, turning everyday sounds into alarms that buy their neighbors time against ICE raids. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/la-i...

In South LA, Black and Latino neighbors unite against ICE as systems fail. As Trump-era immigration enforcement arrests hit 540 weekly and cuts to SNAP threaten families, neighbors are launching mutual aid hubs to keep each other safe.

For many disabled fire victims in Los Angeles, a continuing trauma. “Inflammation from these exposures is not just about cancer or asthma,” says one advocate for disabled people. “It’s neurological, it’s everything.”

Supporters rally around former foster youth advocate jailed and facing deportation under Trump’s immigration dragnet. A wide circle of friends and advocates raising money for Axel Pecero’s young son call his arrest and detention ‘heartbreaking.’

Bell is preparing to sell mobile home parks. Residents want answers. Approximately 350 families fear displacement as the city appraises land and homes at Florence Village and Bell Mobile Home parks. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/bell...

Employees documented abuse and filth at LA tiny home villages. Officials did next to nothing. More than 550 incident reports detail assaults, drug use, unsanitary conditions and more across a dozen villages designed to shelter and support unhoused people.

Lost and arrested: How a series of disastrous events led a former foster youth into ICE custody. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/lost...

Greg Bovino tells LA agents ‘it’s our f–king city’ in new video. In it, the Border Patrol boss also says “arrest as many people that touch you as you want to” — and later confirmed the statement applies to Chicago as well. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/bord...

Eunisses Hernandez called homeless encampment sweeps “inhumane.” Then, she joined LA City Council and things changed. Since taking office, arrests of unhoused people have skyrocketed in Hernandez’s district. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/hern...

Mayor Bass denies city’s own data on nearly $400M LAPD liability costs — Hours after LA Public Press reported the figure, Bass told a town hall the city would be “bankrupt” if the $384 million in LAPD costs were true. lapublicpress.org/2025/11/bass...

When your local reporter needs the same protection as a war correspondent. Five months of covering ICE raids taught our small LA newsroom hard lessons — and we’re still figuring out how to sustain it.