Trump Is Said to Be in Talks to Send Afghans Who Aided U.S. Forces to Congo A U.S. aid worker said that the Afghans, who were evacuated to Qatar, would face a choice between moving to the Democratic Republic of Congo and living under the Taliban.

Breaking News: President Trump is said to be in talks to send Afghans who helped the U.S. war effort to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Why getting more California students into top UCs carries a big cost to taxpayers UC reduced admission for out-of-state students at its top campuses, losing the higher tuition they pay. The state made up the difference.

California decided to spend $30 million annually for five years to enroll more in-state students at the top UCs.

The five-year price tag? Almost half a billion dollars.

How does 30 times 5 = more than $400m?

Read my latest to find out!

calmatters.org/education/hi...

Ordered free, still locked up: Judges fume as Trump administration holds ICE detainees A legal maneuver once reserved for death row inmates and suspected terrorists has become the only recourse for immigrant detainees, who have flooded federal courts in California with thousands of peti...

Judge Troy Nunley said dealing with the surge of activity since last summer had been “like being hit over the head with a bat.”
“We’re up all night doing these cases,” he said. The Eastern District’s six active judges have ordered almost 2,000 people freed in 2026.
www.latimes.com/california/s...

Ordered free, still locked up: Judges fume as Trump administration holds ICE detainees A legal maneuver once reserved for death row inmates and suspected terrorists has become the only recourse for immigrant detainees, who have flooded federal courts in California with thousands of peti...

Ordered free, still locked up: Judges fume as Trump administration holds ICE detainees
www.latimes.com/california/s...

On California farms, workers say threats to deport them are on the rise Farmworkers described instances in which bosses threatened to call ICE on them, sometimes because they complained about workplace violations.

On California farms, workers say threats to deport them are on the rise.

They described instances in which bosses threatened to call ICE on them, sometimes because they complained about workplace violations.

@melissagomez.bsky.social

www.latimes.com/california/s...

On California farms, workers say threats to deport them are on the rise Farmworkers described instances in which bosses threatened to call ICE on them, sometimes because they complained about workplace violations.

I first started this reporting in Aug., when a colleague connected me with a dairy worker. He shared that his boss gathered all the workers & said if anyone tried to take legal action against him, he’d make sure they ended up in Tijuana.
so I started asking around --
www.latimes.com/california/s...

ICE Arrests 85-Year-Old French Widow Who Married Her G.I. Sweetheart

"This month, immigration agents arrested her in her nightgown at her late husband’s home — and a county probate judge overseeing his estate said that one of his sons was responsible for the arrest."
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/u...

Mayor Bass has a new plan for addressing climate change in Los Angeles Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has released a new climate change plan for Los Angeles, setting goals for solar energy, EV chargers and water recycling.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has a new plan for addressing climate change, with goals including doubling solar power and achieving 100% renewable energy by 2035. Los Angeles is also taking steps to obtain more of its water from local sources. @melissagomez.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...

Two dogs stabbed, one killed while defending historic L.A.-area cemetery, heartbroken owner says Celestina Bishop said she's considering selling Woodlawn Celestial Garden, where her mother and sister are buried, along with Civil War veterans.

"The exhaustion was already setting in last year when thieves broke into the property, taking and damaging more than a dozen headstones from the graveyard, which is the final resting place for hundreds of veterans, including several Union soldiers from the Civil War."
www.latimes.com/california/s...

For 40 minutes, the greatest solitude humans have known Speaking from space, the Artemis II astronauts described drifting past the far side of the moon, unable to communicate with Earth.

"The moon, appearing about the size of a bowling ball at arm’s length to the crew, hung in the nothingness. In complete silence, it beckoned."
For 40 minutes, the greatest solitude humans have known. A brief must read by @nohaggerty.bsky.social
www.latimes.com/science/stor...

USC scientists tested the lung capacity of 369 children and found that those who live less than 6.8 miles from the Salton Sea have diminished lung development compared with kids farther away.
Important story by @ianjames.bsky.social -
www.latimes.com/science/stor...

Homeless and stateless: Deportees from U.S. are trapped in Mexico Deported not to their homelands but to unfamiliar cities deep inside Mexico, thousands of migrants are stranded in a dangerous, bureaucratic limbo with little support and no clear path forward.

"Alberto Rodríguez, 73, limped with a cane down a deserted industrial street. A stroke had left him perpetually foggy, unable to recall many details about his life beyond the fact that he had been born in Cuba and had spent nearly 50 years in the United States."
www.latimes.com/world-nation...

What will rise in the place of César Chávez's fall? The labor icon abused girls as young as 12. The unsilencing of survivors has Latinas and organizers asking who else we've been protecting — and why.

ALWAYS read Jean Guerrero -
"The unsilencing of Latina survivors has created space for a retelling of history, one that grapples with the movement’s failures and the unseen Chicanas who were central to its victories. It has opened the door to collective healing."
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Column: Woke California pays homage this week to another American hero with a complex legacy Cesar Chavez, the most famous Latino activist in U.S. history, is a modern-day secular saint. So his flaws — and he has them — may be tough to accept.

FYI - my @latimes.com colleague Gustavo Arellano wrote this in 2021 -
"He paid his staff next to nothing. Undercut his organization with an authoritarian style... And left behind a conflicted legacy nowhere near pure enough for today’s woke warriors."
www.latimes.com/california/s...

'We're in shock': Farmworkers grapple with Cesar Chavez sex abuse allegations Allegations of sexual abuse by the late Cesar Chavez are roiling California's farmworker community, leaving many stunned.

‘We’re in shock’: Farmworkers grapple with Cesar Chavez sex abuse allegations

@melissagomez.bsky.social @latimes.com www.latimes.com/california/s...

Here's the final list of candidates for L.A. city elections Workers at the City Clerk’s Office verified the legitimacy of voter signatures submitted by the candidates, finishing the last batch on Friday.

News from me: For the next few month's I'll be covering L.A. City Hall politics & helping @latimes.com cover the elections. You'll see more local government stories from me, like this one about the final list of candidates who will appear on June's ballot -
www.latimes.com/california/s...

Monica Rodriguez, scathing critic of City Hall, gets a free ride to a third term No one signed up this week to run against Rodriguez, whose City Council district is based in the northeast San Fernando Valley.

She’s blunt. She’s combative. She doesn’t go along to get along.

And now, Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez is almost certainly getting 4 more years in office, since no is running against her.

A look at one of the most outspoken voices at City Hall:

www.latimes.com/california/n...

ICE training was slashed, records show, corroborating whistleblower claims Previously unreported records also offer new details about what was cut from ICE’s basic training program. Concerns about the quality of ICE agents’ training have mounted for months.

ICE dramatically cut its basic training amid a hiring spree meant to speed up the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, records obtained by The Post show, corroborating a whistleblower’s claim.

L.A. City Council should expand to 25 members, charter reform commission says Supporters say a larger council will better represent smaller ethnic groups, including Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander residents.

L.A. voters could be asked this year to redesign their government in dramatic ways, by switching to ranked-choice voting, adding 10 members to the City Council and reworking the duties of other city elected officials

@melissagomez.bsky.social has the latest

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Asylum approvals plummet as fearful immigrants skip hearings Fewer than 3% of asylum cases decided in January were approved — a record low, according to Mobile Pathways, a San Francisco nonprofit that analyzes federal immigration data.

In Los Angeles County immigration courts — among the largest in the country — the trend is substantially starker: no-shows made up 56% of the asylum hearings in January, compared with 14% a year earlier.
“That’s not fluctuation ...That’s collapse.”
www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

A day of history, joy and anxiety in 'Tehrangeles' as a dream seems suddenly possible Reza Khaleghian, 70, came bursting through the door of Naab Cafe on Saturday morning, phone pressed to his ear, fist held in the air, screaming the news in Farsi at anyone who would listen: "Khamenei is dead!”

A day of history, joy and anxiety in 'Tehrangeles' as a dream seems suddenly possible

He saw an abandoned trailer. Then, he uncovered a surveillance network on California’s border On a cracked two-lane road on the eastern edge of San Diego County, James Cordero eased his Jeep onto the shoulder after something caught his eye.

He saw an abandoned trailer. Then, he uncovered a surveillance network on California’s border
latimes.com/california/s...

More than $100 million for transportation projects in jeopardy amid L.A. budget woes The Bureau of Street Services will apply with the state for a two-year extension to allow more time to begin the sidewalk, bike lane and other improvements in Boyle Heights, Skid Row and Wilmington.

About $100 million in state funding for transportation projects in Boyle Heights, Skid Row and other parts of L.A. is in jeopardy -- largely because the city doesn't have enough staff to carry out the projects.

More from the LAT's @melissagomez.bsky.social

www.latimes.com/california/s...

ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

NEW: ICE is leasing offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

‘He’s not the same’: Father of Liam Conejo Ramos says 5-year-old continues to suffer Some people thought they say the 5-year-old during the Super Bowl halftime show. But Liam is still in hiding with his family, after he and his father were detained and then released from a Texas deten...

Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family.

“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.

Jeanette Marantos, L.A. Times plants reporter, dies at 70 Jeanette Marantos, a Features reporter, died following an emergency heart issue. She helped educate readers about native California plants. She described her reporting as her own ongoing education.

We lost an incredible LA Times colleague, Jeanette Marantos. She was a dedicated reporter - when an ICE raid on a cannabis farm broke out last July, Jeanette, whose beat was plants, was first on the scene and central to making sure we had accurate, quick information.
www.latimes.com/lifestyle/st...

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.

Hundreds of kids are still detained.

We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

In Under 500 Words, a Judge Weaponized Wit to Free the Child Detained by ICE Our critic annotates the barbed wordplay of a decision challenging the Trump administration’s theory of executive power.

In Under 500 Words, a Judge Weaponized Wit to Free the Child Detained by ICE
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

In Minnesota, sending a child to school is an act of faith for immigrant families For many immigrant families in Minnesota, sending a child to school requires faith that federal immigration officers deployed around the state won’t detain them. Thousands of children are staying home...

"In some ways, 10-year-old Giancarlo is one of the lucky ones. He still goes to school."
In Minnesota, sending a child to school is an act of faith for immigrant families
www.latimes.com/world-nation...

Opinion | If You Hate Bad Bunny, I Have Bad News for You

"Bad Bunny’s performance isn’t just the story of the ascendancy of a single performer, or of one genre, or even of Latin music more broadly... America’s pop culture today is multilingual, polycultural and international at its very core."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...