Politics
L.A. fires: Will Trump immigration crackdown slow rebuilding?
The breeze was tinged with smoke from the fires that burned through Pacific Palisades as dozens of workers finished up the brick facade of a sprawling home in the tony Brentwood Park neighborhood.
The talk was in Spanish, an unremarkable fact given the language has been the lingua franca on most construction sites in Southern California for decades.
But that fact could be at the center of a leviathan clash of interests: the need to rebuild thousands of homes that were incinerated on a scale the city had never seen before, and the promises of an incoming president to deport a good percentage of the workers who would be needed to get that colossal undertaking done.
“Everyone is scared,” said Melvin Merino, 36, a painter at the home. Workers “are reluctant to talk about their immigration status out of fear it may be shared with immigration officials.”
Even in a city that is supportive of the immigrant population, his fears could make him and others cautious to take jobs in high profile areas such as the fire zone.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to execute the largest mass deportation program of unauthorized immigrants in U.S. history and “seal” the borders from immigrants. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, promises to bring back worksite enforcement.
Immigrants rights groups are bracing for widespread roundups and expulsions, holding legal workshops up and down the state in a bid to aid residents who might be stopped by federal authorities.
The threat is rattling the construction industry, which already has a labor shortage. The wildfires that leveled an estimated 12,000 structures in Pacific Palisades and Altadena will only intensify demand. As homeowners turn to contractors for the slow process of rebuilding, an immigration policy that deports undocumented workers or forces them underground may hinder the recovery.
“It’s really a perfect storm,” said Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates for bipartisan immigration policies.
An estimated 41% of construction workers in California are immigrants, according to the National Assn. of Home Builders. But experts say that number is far higher in residential construction — much of which is nonunionized and not as heavily regulated as large capital projects. The pay is lower and many workers don’t have the legal status to be in the United States.
Trump officials have said the administration will prioritize criminals and those posing a threat to public safety, but their plans have yet to take clear shape. Many employers fear the administration will cast a wider net, and that could ravage industries such as hospitality, manufacturing, construction and agricultural, all heavily dependent on immigrant labor.
Yesenia Acosta leans in to get advice from an attorney during a public meeting to provide information about constitutional rights for immigrants by a consortium of legal counsel, attorneys, organizations, and community experts at the Robert F. Kennedy High School Auditorium in Delano, Calif.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
This month, immigration enforcement actions by Customs and Border Patrol in Bakersfield spread anxiety among agricultural workers after dozens of people were detained in a multiday operation. Accounts of Border Patrol stopping people spread on social media.
Growers reported a drop in workers showing up to their jobs, and advocacy groups saw a surge of frightened families show up at legal workshops on how to protect themselves against deportation.
In Southern California, a similar situation could hurt not only the rebuilding efforts but also preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
“There simply aren’t enough roofers and drywallers and all these other skilled trades in this country,” said Nik Theodore, a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago who studies disaster recovery in the Department of Urban Planning and Policy. “Then you put the backdrop of the campaign promises of the incoming Trump administration around immigration enforcement and deportations, we’re facing a quite serious situation.”
The U.S. construction industry has about 276,000 jobs that are unfilled. To address the tight labor market, the National Assn. of Home Builders has advocated for a guest worker program.
Figures vary but some estimates put the percentage of unauthorized workers in construction in the U.S. between 13% and 23%. Last year, California Lutheran University’s Center for Economics and Social Issues analyzed data from 2019 and found the figure was 28.7% in California and that those workers added $23 billion of value to the industry that year.
“There’s definitely labor shortages around the corner,” said Frank Hawk, executive secretary-treasurer of the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents 90,000 union members in 12 Western states. Even before the wildfires, there were concerns about the region’s ability to deliver skilled workers for the Olympics, he said.
And he said that workers without legal status will be concerned about traveling far, where they might be vulnerable to immigration officials.
Others may go underground or just leave the country altogether. Builders worry that will further constrain the market, putting pressure on costs.
The Cal Lutheran study found that the median hourly wage of undocumented workers in California in all sectors was $13 — half the $26 that U.S.-born workers made. Authorized immigrants earned $19 an hour.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has outlined plans to boost assistance to millions of citizens who may face deportation, suggested this week that Los Angeles should use immigrant Mexican workers.
“When reconstruction process begins, of course it will require a lot of labor, and there’s no better construction workers than Mexicans,” she said during a news conference where she pushed back on right-wing portrayals of migrants as criminals.
A drone image shows the aftermath of the Palisades fire above Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu between Rambla Pacifico Street and Carbon Canyon Road on Jan. 15.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
One of the nation’s worst disasters, the Southern California fires have been compared to Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, where a workforce of Latino immigrants poured in to rebuild the region. In Paradise, Calif., where fires swept through the heavily wooded Northern California town and killed 85 people six years ago, the rebuilding process still draws about 5,000 workers daily — many Latino immigrants — to erect walls, lay foundations and put in piping.
A lot of immigrants will flock to disaster zones in hopes of finding jobs, said Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborers Organizing Network.
After Katrina, he said, “every five minutes employers were stopping at a day laborer corner and actually they were paying good.”
“But that’s where the injustices come,” he said. Unauthorized immigrants are especially vulnerable to unsafe conditions and other abuses. Many post-Katrina workers complained about not getting paid what they earned.
Merino, the painter, fears contractors won’t hire unauthorized immigrants to avoid dealing with federal authorities. Others think those with established contract work will probably keep getting hired, while newer immigrants may have trouble getting jobs.
If mass deportations were carried out, research shows the fallout could ripple through the entire building industry, leading to net job losses among U.S.-born construction workers.
“If you don’t have people framing the house, installing the drywall, you cannot have the American electricians and plumbers come in and do their work,” said Dayin Zhang, an assistant professor in real estate and urban economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Zhang co-wrote a recent study examining a U.S. immigration enforcement program that began in 2008 and resulted in the deportation of more than 300,000 people. The study found a large and persistent reduction in the construction workforce and residential homebuilding in counties after deportations occurred. Home prices also increased as the effects of a reduced housing supply dominated those of lesser demand from deported immigrants.
Widespread deportations are likely to have larger effects in Los Angeles because of the higher numbers of construction workers living in the area illegally, Zhang said.
“If anything, I would think that would be a much bigger distortion to the labor supply in the construction sector in the L.A. area,” he said.
In Malibu, Alberto Garcia, 38, an immigrant from Honduras, was volunteering Friday at the Malibu Community Labor Exchange.
“We’re very worried about deportations,” he said. Garcia hopes to secure a construction job in Malibu but fears any hiccup in his asylum case could hurt him.
“I was really trying to do everything by the book,” he said, flustered. “All we can do is put our trust in God.”
Another volunteer, Alejandro Perez, 45, who migrated from Mexico, applied for asylum but is uncertain about his status. He and other workers say they have no other option but to step out of their house each morning and find work.
“The need for food, bills and rent money obligate you to look for work,” he said. He specializes in roofing, drywall installation and painting, but worries contractors may not hire him because of his status.
Others are likely to stay home, said Oscar Malodrago, director of the Malibu Community Labor Exchange.
Hector Reyes owns a construction business that caters to clients on the Westside, including Pacific Palisades, Bel-Air and Westwood. He is typical of many immigrants who work in the trade.
Reyes gained skills on the job, eventually learned English, obtained a green card and became licensed. He built a decades long career in the trade that allowed him to raise a family, three children and a middle-class life.
Reyes has a small crew including his sons, but the threats feel familiar, reminiscent of the 1980s when immigration raids were common on worksites. “People were hiding in boxes, in attics.”
“I know people that don’t live here legally, but they are very decent people, they work their butts off,” he said.
Theodore said that, deportations or not, the city will depend on immigrants.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say Los Angeles is gonna be rebuilt by immigrant workers,” he said.
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Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation that would make illegal immigrants who engage in animal cruelty inadmissible to the United States and subject to deportation.
The measure is called the “Illegal Alien Animal Abuser Removal Act of 2026.”
“If you come here illegally, you’re already a criminal. Add animal cruelty to the list and you’re on the next flight back to where you came from,” Mace said, according to a press release.
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Nancy Mace holds a dog on Jan. 5, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“We have a duty to protect the voiceless from torture and abuse. Animal cruelty is a proven red flag for violence against people. These criminals escalate. Our bill makes it crystal clear: commit these sick acts and you’re deported. Immediately. No second chances,” she added.
Mace, who has served in the House since 2021, is currently running for South Carolina governor.
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Nancy Mace holds a dog as she casts her vote to adjourn in the House Chamber during the third day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 5, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“The message is clear: abuse animals, get deported. America will not be a sanctuary for animal abusers, especially ones who broke into our country illegally in the first place. Pack your bags,” she noted, according to the release.
Under the legislation, an alien convicted under state, tribal or local laws related to animal cruelty, abuse or animal fighting would be deemed inadmissible and deportable. The bill also specifies that convictions under certain federal animal welfare statutes would carry the same immigration consequences.
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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and her dog Liberty are seen in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The proposal further states that an alien who admits to committing acts that constitute such offenses could also be deemed inadmissible.
President Trump and his allies are questioning ballot security. Democrats are warning of unconstitutional federal intervention. Experts and others are raising concerns about partisan redistricting and federal immigration agents intimidating people at the polls.
Voter trust in the upcoming midterm elections, meanwhile, has dropped off sharply, and across party lines, according to new research by the UC San Diego Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections.
Out of 11,406 eligible voters surveyed between mid-December and mid-January, just 60% said they were confident that midterm votes will be counted fairly — down from 77% who held such confidence in vote counting shortly after the 2024 presidential election.
Shifts in voter confidence are common after elections, with voters in winning parties generally expressing more confidence and voters in losing parties expressing less, said Thad Kousser, one of the center’s co-directors. However, the new survey found double-digit, across-the-board declines in confidence in the last year, he said.
According to voting experts, such drops in confidence and fears about voter intimidation are alarming — and raise serious questions about voter turnout in a pivotal midterm election that could radically reshape American politics.
While 82% of Republicans expressed at least some confidence in vote counting after Trump’s 2024 win, just 65% said they felt that way in the latest survey. Among Democrats, confidence dropped from 77% to 64%, and among independents from 73% to 57%, the survey found.
“Everyone — Democrats, Republicans, independents alike — have become less trusting of elections over the last year,” Kousser said, calling it a “parallel movement in this polarized era.”
Of course, what is causing those declines differs greatly by party, said Kousser’s co-director Lauren Prather, with distrust of mail ballots and noncitizens voting cited by half of Republicans, and concerns about eligible voters being unable to cast ballots because of fear or intimidation cited by nearly a quarter of Democrats.
Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly alleged that mail ballots contribute to widespread fraud and that noncitizen voting is a major problem in U.S. elections, despite neither claim being supported by evidence.
Dean C. Logan, Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, oversees the registering of voters, maintaining voter files, administering federal, state, local and special elections and verifying initiatives, referenda and recall petitions.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
Many Democratic leaders and voting experts have raised concerns about disenfranchisement and intimidation of eligible voters, in part based on Republican efforts to enforce stricter voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements, and Trump suggesting his party should “take over” elections nationwide.
Others in Trump’s orbit have suggested Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be deployed to polling stations, and the FBI recently raided and seized ballots from Fulton County, Ga., long a target of Trump’s baseless claims of 2020 election fraud.
Prather said that research has long showed that “elite cues” — or messaging from political leaders — matter in shaping public perception of election security and integrity, so it is no surprise that the concerns being raised by Trump and other party elites are being echoed by voters.
But the survey also identified more bipartisan concerns, she said.
Voters of all backgrounds — including 51% of Democrats, 48% of independents and 34% of Republicans — said they do not trust that congressional districts are drawn to fairly reflect what voters want. They primarily blamed the opposing party for the problem, but nearly a quarter of both Democrats and Republicans also expressed dissatisfaction with their own party leaders, the survey found.
Various states have engaged in unprecedented mid-decade redistricting to win more congressional seats for their party, with Republicans seizing advantage in states such as Texas and Democrats seizing it in states such as California.
Voters of all backgrounds — including 44% of Democrats, 34% of independents and 30% of Republicans — also said they believe it is likely that ICE agents will be present at voting locations in their area, though they did not all agree on the implications.
Half of Democrats said such a presence would make them feel less confident that votes in their area would be counted accurately, compared with fewer than 14% who said it would make them more confident. Among Republicans, 48% said it would make them more confident, and about 8% less confident. Among independents, 19% said more confident, 32% less confident.
Perceptions of ICE at polling locations also varied by race, with 42% of Asian American voters, 38% of Hispanic voters, 29% of white voters and 28% of Black voters saying it would make them feel less confident, while 18% of Asian American voters, 24% of Hispanic voters, 27% of white voters and 21% of Black voters said it would make them feel more confident.
Among both Black and Hispanic voters, 46% said they expect to face intimidation while voting, compared with 35% of Asian American voters and just 10% of white voters. Meanwhile, 31% of Hispanic and Asian American voters, 21% of Black voters and 8% of white voters said they are specifically worried about being questioned by ICE agents at the polls.
A man waits in line to vote at Compton College in November.
(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)
Kousser said voters’ lack of confidence this cycle reflects a remarkable moment in American politics, when political rhetoric has caused widespread distrust not just in the outcome of elections, but in the basic structure and fairness of how votes are collected and counted — despite those structures being tested and proven.
“We’re at this moment now where there are people on both sides who are questioning what the objective conditions will be of the election — whether people will be able to freely make it to the polls, what the vote counting mechanisms will be — and that’s true sort of left, right, and center in American politics today,” he said.
Prather said research in other countries has shown that distrust in elections over time can cause voters to stop voting, particularly if they think their vote won’t be fairly counted. She does not think the U.S. has reached that point, as high turnout in recent elections has shown, but it is a longer-term risk.
What could have a more immediate effect are ICE deployments, “especially among groups that have worries about what turning out could mean for them if they expect ICE or federal agents to be there,” Prather said.
Election experts said voters with concerns should take steps to ensure their vote counts, including by double-checking they are registered and making a plan to vote early, by mail or with family and friends if they are worried about intimidation.
What voters should not do if they are worried about election integrity is decide to not vote, they said.
“The No. 1 thing on my list is and always will be: Vote,” said Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Voting Rights and Elections Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law. “That sounds maybe trite or simple, but the only way we hold on to our democracy is if people continue to participate and continue to trust it and put their faith in it.”
Registrar voter staff members process ballots at the Orange County Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana in November.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“Now is the time to buckle down and figure out how to fortify our protections for fair elections, and not to give into the chaos and believe it’s somehow overwhelming,” said Rick Hasen, an election law expert and director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA Law.
“I don’t want people to feel like nothing is working, it’s all overwhelming and they are just being paralyzed by all the news of these attacks, these threats,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the Voting Rights Project at the ACLU. “There are a huge range of folks who are working to ensure that these elections go as smoothly as possible, and that if anything comes up, we are ready to respond.”
Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant in California, said the erosion of confidence in U.S. elections was “a deliberate strategy” pushed by Trump for years to explain away legitimate election losses that embarrassed him, and facilitated by Republicans in Congress unwilling to check Trump’s lies to defend U.S. election integrity.
However, Democrats have added to the problem and become “the monster they are fighting” by gerrymandering blue states through redistricting measures such as California’s Proposition 50, which have further eroded American trust in elections, Madrid said.
Madrid said that he nonetheless expects high turnout in the midterms, because many voters have “the sense that the crisis is existential for the future, that literally everything is on the line,” but that the loss of trust is a serious issue.
“Without that trust, a form of government like democracy — at least the American form of democracy — doesn’t work,” he said.
Trump — who in a post Friday called Democrats “horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS” for opposing voter ID laws that most Americans support — has long called on his supporters to turn out and vote in massive numbers to give him the largest possible margin of victory, as a buffer against any election cheating against him. One of his 2024 campaign slogans was “Too Big to Rig.”
In recent days, some of Trump’s fiercest critics — including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — have made a similar pitch to Democrats.
In an interview with The Times, Schiff said that he is “deeply concerned” about the midterms given all of Trump’s threats, but that voters should understand that “the remedy here is to become more involved, not less.”
“The very best protection we’ll have is the most massive voter turnout we’ve ever had,” he said. “It’s going to be those with the most important title in our system — the voters — who end up saving this country.”
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The Department of War on Sunday transported a next-generation nuclear reactor aboard a C-17 from California to Utah, advancing President Donald Trump’s executive order to modernize America’s nuclear energy infrastructure and strengthen U.S. national security.
The reactor was flown from March Air Reserve Base in California to Hill Air Force Base in Utah and is expected to be transported to the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Orangeville for testing and evaluation – a key step in assessing how advanced nuclear systems could support military installations and remote defense operations.
The Department of War shared images on X showing the reactor loaded onto the C-17 aircraft.
“We’re advancing President Trump’s executive order on nuclear energy,” the post read. “Moments from now, we will airlift a next-generation nuclear reactor.”
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The Department of War said the successful delivery and installation of the reactor will open new possibilities for energy resilience and strategic independence for the nation’s defense, highlighting what officials described as an agile, innovative and commercial-first approach to addressing critical infrastructure challenges.
“By harnessing the power of advanced nuclear technology, we are not only enhancing our national security but championing a future of American energy dominance,” the agency said in a press release. “This event is a testament to the ingenuity of the American spirit and a critical advancement in securing our nation’s freedom and strength for generations to come.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of War for additional comment.
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The Department of War airlifted a next-generation nuclear reactor to Utah, advancing President Trump’s push to modernize U.S. energy and strengthen national security. (U.S. Department of War X)
In May, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders aimed at expanding domestic nuclear energy development. At the time, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said America led the postwar world on “all things nuclear” until it “stagnated” and was “choked with overregulation.”
War Secretary Pete Hegseth added that the U.S. was “going to have the lights on and AI operating when others are not because of our nuclear capabilities.”
One of Trump’s nuclear directives called for reforming Energy Department research and development, accelerating reactor testing at national laboratories and establishing a pilot program for new construction.
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Nuclear energy, the White House said in the order, “is necessary to power the next generation technologies that secure our global industrial, digital, and economic dominance, achieve energy independence, and protect our national security.”
The nuclear expansion effort is part of a broader administration push to reinforce domestic energy production and grid reliability across multiple sectors.
Days later, Trump signed another executive order directing the Department of War to work directly with coal-fired power plants on new long-term power purchasing agreements, arguing the move would ensure “more reliable power and stronger and more resilient grid power.”
The order, “Strengthening United States National Defense with America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Power Generation Fleet,” states, “The United States must ensure that our electric grid … remains resilient and reliable, and not reliant on intermittent energy sources,” calling the grid “the foundation of our national defense as well as our economic stability.”
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“It is the policy of the United States that coal is essential to our national and economic security,” the order adds.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
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