Trump’s crackdown leaves LA’s undocumented migrants on brink of homelessness

BUENA PARK, United States – When her husband was arrested in an immigration raid near Los Angeles in July, Martha was abruptly separated from the father of her two daughters.

She also lost the salary that allowed her to keep a roof over their heads.

“He’s the pillar of the family... he was the only one working,” said the undocumented woman, using a pseudonym for fear of reprisals.

“He’s no longer here to help us, to support me and my daughters.”

Los Angeles, where one-third of residents are immigrants – and several hundred thousand people are undocumented – has been destabilised by intensifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids under the Trump administration.

Since returning to power, US President Donald Trump has delivered on promises to launch a wide-ranging deportation drive, targeting undocumented migrants but also ensnaring many others in its net.

After her husband’s arrest, 39-year-old Martha has joined the ranks of people barely managing to avoid ending up on the streets of Los Angeles County – a region with prohibitively high housing prices, and the largest number of homeless people in the United States outside New York.

Her 700 sq ft apartment in Buena Park, a suburb of the California metropolis, costs US$2,050 (S$2,600) per month. After her husband’s arrest, she urgently found a minimum-wage night job in a factory to cover their most pressing needs.

It pays just enough to keep them afloat, but has left Martha unable to cover a range of obligations.

“I have to pay car insurance, phone, rent and their expenses,” she said, pointing to her six- and seven-year-old daughters, who need school supplies for the new academic year.

“That’s a lot of expenses.”

Bigger storm brewing

How long can she keep up this punishing schedule, which allows her barely three hours of sleep on returning from the factory before having to wake and look after her daughters?

“I couldn’t tell you,” she said, staring blankly into space.

Los Angeles has seen some of the worst of the ICE raids. Squads of masked agents have targeted hardware stores, car washes and bus stops, arresting more than 2,200 people in June.

About 60 per cent of these had no prior criminal records, according to internal ICE documents analysed by AFP.

Mr Trump’s anti-immigration offensive is taking an added toll on Latino workers, who were already among the worst-affected victims of the region’s housing crisis, said Ms Andrea Gonzalez, deputy director of the Clean Carwash Workers Centre, a labour rights non-profit.

“A bigger storm is brewing. It’s not just about the people that got picked up, it’s about the people that are left behind as well,” she said.

“There is a concern that people are going to end up on the streets.”

Her organisation is helping more than 300 struggling households whose incomes have plummeted, either because a family member has been arrested or because they are too afraid to return to work.

It has distributed more than US$30,000 to help around 20 families who are unable to afford their rent, but covering everyone’s needs is simply “not sustainable”, said Ms Gonzalez.

An emergency

Local Democratic Party leaders are trying to establish financial aid for affected families.

Los Angeles County is planning a dedicated fund to tackle the problem, and city officials will also launch a fund using philanthropic donations rather than taxpayer money.

Some families should receive “a couple hundred” dollars, Mayor Karen Bass said in July.

But for Ms Gonzalez, these initiatives do not “even scratch the surface” of what is needed, representing less than 10 per cent of most affected families’ rent requirements.

She called for a “moratorium on evictions” similar to one introduced during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Otherwise, Los Angeles’ homeless population – currently numbered at 72,000, which is down slightly in the past two years – risks rising again, she warned.

“What we’re living through right now is an emergency,” said Ms Gonzalez.

Ms Maria Martinez’s undocumented immigrant husband was arrested in June at a carwash in Pomona, a suburb east of Los Angeles.

Since then, the 59-year-old has had to rely on help from her children to pay her US$1,800 monthly rent. Her US$1,000 disability allowance falls far short.

“It is stressful,” she said. “We’re just getting by.” AFP