| Escalating immigration enforcement in Southern California has sparked protests, vandalism and sporadic clashes with police as President Trump has sent troops to downtown L.A. |
| In other parts of Greater Los Angeles, undocumented immigrants — and even those who are here legally but fear racial profiling — are exercising extra caution navigating their daily lives. |
| My colleagues reported that some communities have been unusually quiet, with residents saying they are avoiding going out and attending to routine business for fear of being stopped. |
| Here are some places where foot traffic is significantly down: |
| MacArthur Park |
| On Friday, the area around the longtime hub west of downtown was noticeably quieter than usual. Many of the vendors whose carts once lined South Alvarado Street were gone. |
| A number had already left earlier this year when the city put up fencing after a gang-related shooting that wounded six people. |
| "There's like sadness, maybe grief. I think a lot of fear, a lot of fear is going around these communities. And yeah, people are walking around just very cautious, very cautious," Cristina Serrano told The Times as she was doing mitt work at Panda Boxing Gym. |
| The gym's owner now regularly walks up and down the block looking for signs of trouble and to make sure that people in the gym feel safe, Serrano said. |
| Downey |
| With its stately homes and bustling business districts, Downey has long been known to some as the "Mexican Beverly Hills." |
| But the Southeast L.A. County city of more than 110,000 people has been roiled by Trump immigration raids, sparking both fear and outrage. |
| Downey Councilmember Mario Trujillo said the raids are "creating a culture of fear" that's prompting people, even those with documents, to stay home out of concern they could be targeted by federal agents simply for being Latino. |
| The downtown Downey area, which had already been hurting amid a tenuous economy, is now a ghost town, Trujillo said. |
| Last week, masked federal agents detained at least 12 people from businesses in Downey, but community members were able to discourage them from taking one man without proper documents. |
| Trujillo said he understood that immigration agents have a job to do, but the council member questioned the necessity of grabbing workers who are trying to support their families and people just trying to go about their daily lives. |
| Oxnard |
| At farms in Ventura County, workers who would typically be moving up and down the rows of strawberry plants were largely absent. The entry gates to many area farms were shut and locked. |
| Juvenal Solano, a director with the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project, told The Times he felt relieved. Silence was better than the chaos that broke out days earlier when immigration agents raided fields in Oxnard and across other communities in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties that grow a considerable portion of the state's strawberries, avocados and celery. |
| Community groups told The Times they had confirmed that at least 35 people were detained in the raids. |
| Meanwhile, the Trump administration appeared to be changing its tune as immigration officers were directed to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels after the president expressed alarm about the effects of his aggressive enforcement, an official said Saturday. |
| Here's more coverage of the immigration raids and protests: |
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Today's top stories |
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| Reconstruction work continued in late January after the Eaton fire destroyed homes and businesses. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) |
Eaton fire damage costs could mean higher utility bills throughout California |
- More than 30 million Californians across the state could see their electric bills go up to pay for the devastating Eaton fire as officials scramble to shore up a state wildfire fund that could be wiped out by damage claims.
- One early estimate places fire losses from the Eaton fire at $24 billion to $45 billion.
- If Southern California Edison equipment is found to have sparked the blaze on Jan. 7, as dozens of lawsuits allege, the damage claims could quickly exhaust the state's $21-billion wildfire fund.
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California leaders say sweeping DOGE cuts will make wildfires worse |
- The state set an ambitious goal in the early 2020s to deliberately burn at least 400,000 acres of wilderness each year in an effort to reduce the fuel that feeds devastating wildfires.
- But California officials worry their ambitious goals are likely to be thwarted by deep cuts to the federal agencies that own and manage half of the state's total land.
- In recent months, the Forest Service has lost about 10% of its workforce to mass layoffs and firings.
- Although firefighters were exempt from the staffing cuts ordered by President Trump's DOGE team, previously led by Elon Musk, employees who handle the logistics and clear the myriad regulatory hurdles to secure permission for prescribed burns were not.
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Why Hollywood studios are still downsizing |
- Hollywood's workforce just needed to "survive 'til '25." But now as the year approaches its halfway point, a bleaker saying seems apt: "Exist 'til '26."
- Rosy projections of a robust recovery this year have not materialized. If anything, the downturn, at least in terms of employment at the studios, has continued.
- It is yet another sign that the industry is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic and the dual writers' and actors' strikes of 2023, while also trying to navigate the changing media landscape.
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What else is going on |
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Commentary and opinions |
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This morning's must reads |
| | | What does a hospital do when a patient has everything but a name? | | | |
Other must reads |
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| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
For your downtime |
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| Times staff writer Deborah Vankin gets stretched by flexologist Joel Badilla at Stretch Lab in Echo Park. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times) |
Going out |
- Exercise: Assisted stretching is more popular than ever. But what do "flexologists" actually do to you? And is it worth it?
- Restaurants: Does California have the best restaurants in the country? Yes. Here's our proof.
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Staying in |
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And finally ... your photo of the day |
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| (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) |
| Today's great photo is from Times photographer Jason Armond at the "No Kings" demonstration in downtown L.A. |
Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
