| I spotted some of the Trump administration's wanted men on Tuesday, the day after the U.S. Supreme Court granted immigration agents virtually unchecked permission to continue the "largest Mass Deportation Operation" in America's history. |
| The wanted stood outside of a U-Haul truck rental outlet in the San Gabriel Valley. They polished other people's BMWs and Range Rovers at a Pasadena car wash. I saw the wanted women too, walking to jobs as nannies and housekeepers. |
| They looked suspicious, all right, by the definition outlined Monday by Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. They were natives of Mexico and Central America, seeking "certain kinds of jobs, such as day labor, landscaping, agriculture, and construction." |
| They were suspect to many Californians too, but only of wanting to work, wanting to earn a little cash, wanting to pay their bills and feed their families. One hundred and seventy five years to the day after land that once belonged to Mexico became the 31st American state, California felt to many people Tuesday like it had reverted to a kind of frontier justice, where racial profiling had become the law of the land. |
| "I am just working hard and paying taxes," said Mario, 50, between sips of coffee on the sidewalk outside the U-Haul station. Even before the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids began three months ago, the Honduran immigrant said, life for street-corner workers was not easy. |
| "People are just looking for work. Some of them are even homeless," said Mario, who declined to give his last name. "But some people are showing them hate, sometimes even hitting or kicking the homeless. We see it out on the street." |
| At the Pasadena car wash where six workers were carted away in late August, those left behind continued their buffing and polishing Tuesday. |
| "It feels like we have come down low, really low," said Cesar, between checking in customers. Though he was born just blocks away at Pasadena's Huntington Hospital, he said he does not feel immune from the raids. |
| "If now they are just going to judge you by how you look, or maybe how you talk, I can get pulled over. Anyone can get pulled over," said Cesar, who did not give his last name. "It's gonna be harder for people to live a normal life. They're gonna just have to deal with harassment. That's not something I would want anyone to have to go through." |
| Earlier raids by Trump immigration agents have spread far beyond snagging the criminals and drug traffickers the president and his allies claimed to be after. With 10 million Latinos living in the seven Southern California counties covered by the court's order, a rights group said the high court's action cleared the way for "an extraordinarily expansive dragnet, placing millions of law-abiding people at imminent risk of detention by federal agents." |
| "We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote. "Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent." |
| The action offered portentous echoes of the mistreatment and greater violence unleashed on Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s. Today, it had U.S.-born citizens, such as The Times' Gustavo Arellano, feeling they will have to carry their passports to prove their citizenship. |
| Outside the U-Haul, Mario said he holds a green card. So he will continue waiting on the sidewalk for his next job. |
| "I believe in God," he said. "We might think different things, but we all have the same heart. There should be the same heart for everyone. Everyone." |
Today's top stories |
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| California Gov. Gavin Newsom, shown in Sacramento last year, painted a portrait of a state under siege by the federal government in his written State of the State address on Sept. 9, 2025. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) |
Newsom escalates clash with Trump in State of the State, declares California under siege |
- Gov. Gavin Newsom portrayed California as menaced by the Trump administration while emphasizing the state's resilience in responding to devastating wildfires.
- The address comes as Newsom gains national attention for confronting President Trump and positioning himself as a defender of California values.
- He said as California celebrates the 175th anniversary of statehood, "the state is strong, fully committed to defending democracy, and resolved to never bend."
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Indiscriminate ICE raids in L.A. can resume: What rights do you have? |
- The Supreme Court cleared federal authorities to resume immigration raids in Los Angeles after lifting a judge's order that barred racial profiling.
- The ruling overturns protections against ICE agents targeting people based on race, language, occupation or location, such as Home Depot parking lots.
- Immigrant advocates have guidance on your constitutional rights during encounters, including remaining silent and demanding to see valid search warrants from authorities.
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OpenAI installs parental controls following California teen's death |
- OpenAI will roll out parental controls within the month, allowing parents to link accounts and receive alerts when the system detects "acute distress."
- The changes follow a California family's lawsuit after their 16-year-old son died by suicide following intimate conversations with ChatGPT about his mental health struggles.
- Artificial intelligence researchers warn the safeguards may be insufficient, noting that ChatGPT's safety protections can degrade during long conversations and emotional connections.
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Another California county is losing its only hospital as the feds reclassify it |
- Glenn Medical Center's "heartbreaking" closure will put 150 people out of work and send rural patients to neighboring counties for care.
- Tucked between two national forests, Glenn County is home to 28,000 people. Without a local emergency room, they'll instead have to travel at least 40 minutes to a neighboring county for critical care.
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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 |
| | | California is one of five states with laws that do not allow religious exemptions to school vaccines. The Trump administration is moving to expand parents' right to opt out. | | | |
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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| A Solvang Julefest parade in 2023. (Slocoastpix / SolvangUSA.com) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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A question for you: What is your favorite place to visit in California during the fall? |
| Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. |
And finally ... your photo of the day |
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| Blanca Lucio lives with the dual burden of noise and heat, which she escapes by spending time at the Corazon de la Gente garden in South L.A., near her home, but many miles away in terms of shade and serenity. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) |
| Today's great photo is from Times photographer Robert Gauthier at the Corazon de la Gente garden in South L.A., where Blanca Lucio escapes the dual burden of noise and heat, which are the focus of a pioneering study that seeks to figure out how a combination of high heat and loud noise affects the brains and health of L.A. residents. |
Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend 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. |
