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LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles County officials will vote Tuesday on whether to declare a state of emergency that would give them power to provide assistance for residents they say have suffered financially from ongoing federal immigration raids.
The move would allow the LA County Board of Supervisors to provide rent relief for tenants who have fallen behind as a result of the crackdown on immigrants. A local state of emergency can also funnel state money for legal aid and other services.
Funds for rent would be available to people who apply via an online portal that would be launched within two months, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath’s office said. The motion could also be a first step toward an eviction moratorium, but that would require a separate action by the supervisors.
Landlords worried it could be another financial hit after an extended ban on evictions and rental increases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since June, the Los Angeles region has been a battleground in the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration strategy that spurred protests and the deployment of the National Guards and Marines for more than a month. Federal agents have rounded up immigrants without legal status to be in the US from Home Depots, car washes, bus stops, and farms. Some US citizens have also been detained.
Horvath and Janice Hahn said the raids have spread fear and destabilized households and businesses.
“They are targeting families, disrupting classrooms, silencing workers, and forcing people to choose between staying safe and staying housed,” Horvath said in a statement, referencing actions by the Trump administration. She added declaring an emergency “is how we fight back.”
Last week the five-member board voted 4-1 to put the declaration up for a vote at its regular Tuesday meeting. The sole “no” vote came from Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who argued that the immigration raids did not meet the criteria of an emergency and that it could be unfair to landlords.
“I’m sure we’re going to be challenged legally,” Barger said. The county’s eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in multiple lawsuits.
Landlords are “still reeling” from the COVID-era freezes that cost them “billions of dollars in uncollected rent and prohibited annual rent increase,” said Daniel Yukelson, CEO of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.
He said housing providers are sympathetic to tenants and their family members affected by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities. But, he said, the association isn’t aware of anyone unable to pay rent due to immigration enforcement.
“If local jurisdictions once again allow rent payments to be deferred due to ICE enforcement activities, this will lead to the further deterioration and loss of affordable housing in our community,” Yukelson said.

ANTANANARIVO: Madagascar’s embattled President Andry Rajoelina said Monday he was sheltering in a “safe space” after an attempt on his life and called for the constitution to be respected as pressure mounted for him to resign.
The twice-delayed speech marked his first public address since a mutinous army unit backed anti-government protests afollowed by reports he had fled the country off the east coast of Africa.
“Since 25 September, there have been attempts on my life and coup attempts. A group of military personnel and politicians planned to assassinate me,” the 51-year-old leader said in a live address.
“I was forced to find a safe place to protect my life,” he said, without revealing his location.
The protests, led by mostly young demonstrators, initially focused on chronic power and water cuts in the impoverished country but developed into a broader anti-government movement that called for Rajoelina to resign.
Rajoelina, a former mayor who came to power on the back of a coup, on Monday called for the constitution to be respected to resolve the deepening political crisis.
“There is only one way to resolve these issues; that is to respect the constitution in force in the country,” he said.
Radio France Internationale said Rajoelina left Madagascar on a French military plane at the weekend but French officials did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for confirmation.
French President Emmanuel Macron also refused to confirm this.