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Home > Sangre Celestial > ICE presence puts pressure on immigrants’ pocketbooks
Podcast: Sangre Celestial
Episode:

ICE presence puts pressure on immigrants’ pocketbooks
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-09-09 19:00:00
Description: Federal immigration agents detained thousands of people this summer, and because of that, many immigrants have feared going to work or simply leaving their homes. Not working means not making money — and likely struggling to pay rent. Weekly earnings for immigrant renters fell from $800 to $300 this summer, constituting a 62% change, according to The Rent Brigade’s survey conducted in early August. It was done in partnership with Community Power Collective, CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, LA Tenants Union, and Chinatown Community for Equitable Development. Emily Phillips, researcher with The Rent Brigade, says her team surveyed about 120 immigrant day laborers, street vendors, domestic workers, landscapers, factory workers, and car washers. The most common response: They couldn’t go to work out of fear of being abducted. For some vendors, depending on the day, they only worked a few hours, and their usual customers weren’t there. Since the ICE raids began, 28% of respondents owed more than one month’s rent, the survey found. But even before that, immigrant neighborhoods already experienced higher eviction rates compared to areas densely populated by U.S. citizens, Phillips notes. She acknowledges that the current situation is similar to the COVID pandemic, with folks sheltering in place and losing income. Plus, “the city owes it to tenants. They owe it to vendors. They owe these protections to these folks that do compose so much of our city, right? The city has historically marginalized and harassed street vendors and tenants, and I think this is the bare minimum.” However, 1 in 8 survey respondents said their landlord threatened to report them to ICE. California Civil Code 1943 makes it illegal for landlords to call ICE on tenants, threaten to call ICE, or report immigration status to authorities, Phillips points out. “We're seeing landlords weaponize tenants’ immigration status to pursue illegal harassment and eviction. And really this fear of retaliation and threat of deportation has dissuaded these folks from asking for what they need and exercising their rights to a habitable home.” For immigrants who did return to work — 71% of responders — they were motivated by bills and looming evictions, Phillips says. The Rent Brigade is pushing for an eviction moratorium. Phillips says people shouldn’t have to choose between their safety or a paycheck, and if LA can’t prevent the federal raids, they could at least offer a solution for safe housing.
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