Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It's Sunday. I'm your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here's what you need to know:
Choosing to leave rather than being led away
The then-19-year-old Peruvian woman arrived in the United States 20 years ago and overstayed her tourist visa.
She traded a potential career in South America as a graphic designer for the hard work of cleaning hotel rooms and offices in Los Angeles.
She paid taxes, made friends and took courses at a local community college with the hope she'd eventually gain legal status.
The latter never happened.
During the first few months of the second Trump administration, Celeste — concerned for her safety, she asked to be referred to by only her first name — acknowledged being unnerved by the images. Undocumented immigrants have been loaded onto planes, shackled like violent criminals, en route to their home country and even countries not their own.
The thought of being ripped from her home, without time to pack up belongings or say goodbye to friends, shakes her to the core.
So, Celeste has decided to return to Peru by year's end.
Celeste is not alone as there's a growing sentiment among the immigrant community that it's best to leave on their own terms rather than against their will.
My colleague Rebecca Plevin documented Celeste's case and the factors leading some immigrants to self-deport.
What's causing this fear?
Trump promised the largest deportation effort in U.S. history prior to winning a second term.
His campaign rhetoric centered on undocumented immigrants who had committed violent crimes. However, shortly after he took office, his administration pivoted, considering anyone in the country without authorization a criminal.
What's changed?
The new administration has employed tactics both explicit and subtle to urge immigrants to voluntarily leave.
The day he was inaugurated, Trump disabled the CBP One mobile app the Biden administration had utilized since 2023 to create a more orderly process of applying for asylum from the U.S.-Mexico border. Thousands of migrants had their asylum appointments canceled.
Instead, the Trump administration launched a replacement app, CBP Home, that allows immigrants to notify the U.S. government of their intent to leave the country.
The agency launched an ad campaign urging people without authorization to leave immediately. This week, Trump told Fox Noticias he's formulating a plan to give a stipend and an airplane ticket to immigrants in the country illegally who opt to "self-deport."
The administration isn't just targeting undocumented immigrants. In recent weeks, Homeland Security has messaged migrants who entered using the CBP One app, telling them their temporary legal status has been terminated and they should leave "immediately."
What do the numbers say?
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to The Times' request for data regarding the number of people who have used the CBP Home app.
Three months in, it's also difficult to estimate how many people are making the grueling decision to leave the lives and families built here to return to home countries that many have not seen for decades.
What are immigrants saying?
Luz Gallegos, executive director of TODEC Legal Center in the Inland Empire, said her staff members talk "daily" with folks who are considering leaving.
"What comes up a lot in the sessions is, 'Prefiero irme con algo, que irme sin nada,'" Gallegos said. "I'd rather leave with something than leave with nothing."
Elena, an unauthorized Mexican immigrant who has lived in the Inland Empire for nearly two decades, said she and her husband will move back to their homeland in the southern state of Chiapas by Christmas.
"My heart hurt so badly," said Elena, who also asked to be identified only by her first name because she fears coming to the attention of immigration authorities. "I saw workers and people traveling with their families, people who had made their lives here, and suddenly this happens and their dreams are destroyed."
She has three adult children — two born in the U.S. — and two grandchildren in California. She chokes at the thought of being thousands of miles away.
About 100 miles southeast, Maria, also an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, said that after 30 years in the Coachella Valley, she, too, plans to return and try to forge a new life in the western state of Michoacán. Like the other women interviewed for this article, she asked to be identified only by a first name.
"It's as if I'm being divided into two parts," she said. "I haven't been happy here, and I won't be happy there."
For more on the situation, check out the full article.
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Column One
Column One is The Times' home for narrative and long-form journalism. Here's a great piece from this past week:
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
In the early, chaotic days of the COVID-19 pandemic, transitional-kindergarten teacher Elizabeth Lam despaired. She saw distracted faces when she gazed across the virtual divide to her students learning at home. So she offered comfort. Lam donned a set of Minnie Mouse ears. Four-year-old students who might struggle with 2+2 or writing their names could focus on M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. Lam become synonymous with the ears and was dubbed the "Disney teacher" on campus. She collected and kept more than 30 pairs in her classroom. Some were purchased to mark personal milestones, such as completing her 200th half marathon; others were gifted by students. On Jan. 7, they were all incinerated, along with most of Palisades Charter Elementary School, by the Palisades fire.
More great reads
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For your weekend
(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Alana O'Herlihy)
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L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
(Dilruba Karalp for The Times)
He and his female roommate sat on the couch and chatted the day she moved in. She ventured to L.A. after a breakup with her boyfriend, while he had never been in a serious relationship. They had much in common, though, being Canadian and owning similar views on faith, morality and an unapologetic love of Cheez-Its. But they were just supposed to be roommates. Would more blossom from this relationship or did the couple friendzone each other?
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Elijah Wolfson, Environment, Health and Science Editor
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