Los Angeles

The Department of Justice has escalated its investigation into alleged noncitizen voting in California, issuing three grand jury subpoenas to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder employees ordering them to appear in court Nov. 4. The subpoenas seek documents and communications tied to DOJ letters sent in July and October alleging noncitizens on the state's voter rolls, plus any efforts to keep such votes from being counted.

Earlier, the DOJ sued California after giving officials 48 hours to match 20,000 DHS-flagged names against state data; a federal preliminary review found about 118,000 matches nationwide, below Trump's earlier claim of 250,000. A judge already rejected a DOJ bid to force removal of over 20,000 mail-in ballots, and the department has appealed while Los Angeles says it is complying with the law.

A $34 million Los Angeles Unified School District campus at 1215 Miramar Avenue, built for Camino Nuevo Charter Academy and opened in 2013, has sat vacant since the charter operator closed the site in 2021, citing its distance from other Camino Nuevo campuses. The building carries an $8 million construction debt that any new tenant must repay. Years of vandalism, fires, and burst pipes have followed, with LAUSD now spending roughly $1 million annually on security and upkeep. Deals with two prospective charter operators fell through, and a current bid by the Los Angeles Academy of Arts and Enterprise faces costly district conditions, including debt assumption and repair costs, despite state requirements that the campus be made available to a charter school.

With polls showing a tight contest days before the Nov. 3 election, LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman has detailed plans to challenge incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Her platform includes moving the city's homelessness budget away from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, giving the city controller broad audit power, and cutting encampments by half before the 2028 Olympics. On housing, she pledges a "shot clock" for permits, self-certification for simple projects, new high-rise zones, and a Office of Tenant Protections. On public safety, Raman would expand unarmed crisis response teams and has signaled she would replace LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell.

Bass, in office since 2022, has faced scrutiny over wildfire response, federal immigration enforcement, and homelessness policy, issues likely to shape how voters weigh the race's outcome.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces City Councilmember Nithya Raman in Tuesday's election, with housing affordability as the central issue. Bass touts more than 10,000 income-restricted apartments built during her term, driven largely by her Executive Directive One permitting reform, though analysts note much of that progress stems from pre-existing Proposition HHH funding and that overall housing production has lagged. Raman, running as a pro-development YIMBY candidate, criticizes Bass for rolling back ED 1 near single-family zones and opposing a state density law, while Bass warns that looser rules risk displacing low-income residents.

Both candidates back lower rent-control caps and reforming the city's "mansion tax," but diverge sharply on zoning and development approach heading into the vote.

Santa Clara County rejected a DOJ demand for data on 902 voters it suspects are noncitizens and to set aside their ballots, calling it unlawful and infeasible before Election Day; San Mateo and Contra Costa counties raised similar objections, noting the DOJ letters carry no court order. The dispute escalated after a federal judge and a 9th Circuit panel both rejected a related Trump administration effort to block roughly 20,000 California ballots statewide, calling the claims about noncitizen voters not credible and the intervention unconstitutional. The DOJ has appealed again. Gov. Newsom says California is deploying election attorneys to monitor DOJ observers at polling sites.

A House Judiciary Committee report led by Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Tom McClintock alleges that police and sheriff's departments in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego rejected nearly 9,000 ICE detainer requests in recent years, with Los Angeles honoring roughly 0.1% of those it received. The report also cites ICE figures claiming California authorities released over 4,500 sought immigrants since January 2025, and highlights several high-profile killings involving previously deported individuals to argue sanctuary laws like the Trust Act and California Values Act endanger public safety.

Newsom's office has disputed similar claims previously, saying California has transferred thousands of inmates to ICE custody since 2019. Republicans are pushing the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act to bar such local restrictions.

Nearly two years after the Eaton and Palisades fires, many Los Angeles-area survivors are running out of savings and temporary housing aid, with FEMA rental assistance for renters having expired in October. The Trump administration omitted LA wildfire relief from its summer budget request, and California's request for $16 billion in long-term recovery funds remains unresolved. A nonprofit survey found over a quarter of survivors have exhausted displacement coverage, with mental health and financial strain topping their concerns.

Democratic lawmakers Judy Chu and Norma Torres say a Democratic takeover of the House (and possibly Senate) in November could unlock stalled federal disaster aid, as Republicans have been reluctant to push the issue absent White House backing. State and local officials say they are seeking other funding sources in the meantime.