It’s a challenging time for Los Angeles residents, especially for Latino communities. During the wildfire outbreak, the Los Angeles Fire Department admitted to being overwhelmed due to a lack of personnel, forcing California leaders to find creative ways to add experienced firefighters to help contain the blazes.
As they waited for the federal government to send reinforcements, neighboring states such as Arizona and Nevada deployed personnel to assist. Northern California crews and incarcerated individuals in the state’s fire department training program were also called upon. In a surprising move, Mexico sent workers and other resources to aid in the firefight.
“The need for cleanup and rebuilding is immediate,” said Nik Theodore, a University of Illinois Chicago professor of urban planning and policy, during a Friday, Jan. 24, briefing hosted by Ethnic Media Services on the Los Angeles fires and deportation threats. “We’re seeing ash with lead and other toxins leaching into the earth, contaminating groundwater and the air.”
Mexico’s assistance was particularly unexpected given the ongoing border disputes and inflammatory rhetoric President Donald Trump directed at immigrant and Latino communities, and Mexico as a nation. But with 28 confirmed deaths, an estimated $275 billion in damages, nearly 17,000 structures destroyed, and more than 150,000 people displaced, one might have expected U.S. and California officials to express gratitude toward their Mexican counterparts. Instead, they were met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Even in the best of times, in industries where many immigrants work, like construction, government enforcement of labor standards has never been strong enough to safeguard workers,” Theodore said.
Nationwide, roughly 30 percent of construction workers are immigrants, with that figure rising to 40 percent in states like California and Texas. In 2023, the construction industry faced a shortage of more than 500,000 workers nationwide.
“We will have to depend on immigrants to rebuild from this disaster. But folks are too afraid to show up for these jobs,” said Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum. “The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are right around the corner. The industry would have to grow robustly even if it weren’t for the fires.”
ICE agents across the country have raided workplaces and detained undocumented immigrants. Some agents have even attempted to conduct enforcement actions at schools, targeting children suspected of being undocumented or having family members without legal status.
“When we see more overreach and when enforcement begins prioritizing people who are contributing—not violent criminals, not individuals legally eligible for deportation—I think we’ll see American voters say, ‘This is not what I signed up for. This was not a blank check,’ Murray added.
A nationwide poll of 1,200 adults, conducted by the National Immigration Forum and The Bullfinch Group, found that 60 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of voters overall said immigration enforcement should prioritize violent criminals and those with final orders of removal over indiscriminately targeting all individuals without legal status.
“The country benefits from migrant labor, but not everyone is ready to accept their humanity,” said Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON). “Don’t fall into the trap of believing this administration is only going after ‘violent criminals.’ That’s what President Barack Obama said when he used the phrase ‘felons, not families.’ Yet the vast majority of people deported during his administration did not pose any threat to public safety.”