“All members of the faithful who, due to genuine fear of immigration enforcement actions, are unable to attend Sunday Mass or Masses on holy days of obligation are dispensed from this obligation,” the Bishop stated in a letter released Tuesday, July 8.

The sprawling San Bernardino diocese, which consists of 92 parishes and 12 missions across both San Bernardino and Riverside counties, has seen reports of immigration activity as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign targeting undocumented immigrants. Officials said that ICE agents were reported at two Catholic parishes in Montclair and Highland on June 20.

That afternoon, ICE detained multiple people in the parking lot of St. Adelaide Church, in Highland, who were neither employees of the parish nor parishioners, said John Andrews, director of communications for the Diocese of San Bernardino. Agents also took one male parishioner into custody at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Montclair the same day, Andrews said.

As of Wednesday, July 9, there has been no other ICE activity at churches “that the Diocese is aware of,” Andrews said. He noted that Rojas’ decree was “definitely the first dispensation that is immigration-related.”

In his decree, Bishop Rojas cited “pastoral needs of our diocese” and “concerns expressed by many of our brothers and sisters regarding fears of attending Mass due to potential immigration enforcement actions by civil authorities.”

The decree acknowledges that this fear “constitutes a grave inconvenience that may impede the spiritual good of the faithful.” Under Catholic Canon Law, a bishop is able to excuse churchgoers from attending Sunday Masses and holy days of obligation. It allows people to be exempt from going to church and receiving holy communion until the decree is revoked or amended.

The Diocese of San Bernardino issued a similar “special dispensation” to local Catholics in March 2020, freeing them of Mass obligations as the coronavirus pandemic hit.

In the July 8 letter, Bishop Rojas — alongside Gerard M. Lopez, the Vicar General for the diocese — encouraged the faithful to practice alternative spiritual practices to “maintain their spiritual communion with Christ.” Examples include Scripture readings, personal prayer, rosary devotions, and participating in televised or livestreamed church Masses.

“In issuing this decree, I am guided by the Church’s mission to care for the spiritual welfare of all entrusted to my care, particularly those who face fear or hardship,” Rojas said. “I entrust this diocese to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and invoke God’s blessing upon all the faithful.”

Jarryd Gonzales, a spokesperson with the Diocese of Orange, said Wednesday that there is no dispensation being offered to Orange County Catholics, but that the diocese “remains deeply committed to supporting our Catholic community during this heightened concern surrounding immigration enforcement actions.” In June, diocesan leaders issued a statement urging federal lawmakers to advance comprehensive immigration reform, while encouraging the faithful to “remain calm, faithful and peaceful in response to these challenges.”

OC priests have brought the holy communion and celebrated Mass for those in fear of leaving their homes, Gonzales said Wednesday.

In early June, as widespread immigration sweeps were first reported throughout the L.A. region, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez took part in a peaceful prayer vigil at City Hall with other faith leaders, urging protection for immigrant families and calling for an end to the raids. In a message to the faithful, Gomez echoed that fears of detention and deportation are “causing panic in our parishes and communities.” He also supported the government’s plan to deport known terrorists and violent criminals, while respecting the right to due process.

L.A. Archdiocese spokesperson Yannina Diaz said Wednesday that there has not been a formal announcement of dispensation, but L.A.-area parishes “continue to provide outreach to families and individuals who have been impacted.” The Archdiocese launched a Family Assistance Program for donations to support families experiencing economic uncertainty and hardship.

In a later statement, Bishop Rojas assured immigrant communities “that their church stands and walks with them through this trying time.” He said that immigrants who “have been in this country for years with no other issues than their legal status, have contributed to the well-being of the larger community.”

“Most of them are here because they wanted to save their families; they had no other option. I believe that they would love to be legalized, but who can help them? I know that they would be in church if not for this threat to their safety and family unity,” Rojas said. “I decided to issue a dispensation from their obligation to attend weekly Mass. With all the worry and anxiety that they are feeling I wanted to take away, for a time, the burden they may be feeling from not being able to fulfill this commitment to which our Catholic faithful are called.”

All three Southern California dioceses have issued guidance for their diverse churches and Catholic schools to be able to respond to immigration enforcement. As anxiety deepens, many parish communities offer immigration workshops, have partnered with legal and advocacy groups, and provide spiritual and pastoral support to immigrants at court hearings, home or church settings.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest, writer and editor for America Magazine, called San Bernardino’s dispensation an “extraordinary move.”

“It is a dramatic sign that not even Catholic churches are considered safe places any longer,” Martin posted on X. “Where are the voices for religious freedom now?”

The Diocese of San Bernardino offers immigration resources for communities, including “Know Your Rights” workshops and handouts, recommendations for parishes should ICE agents show up, and partnerships with immigrant-rights coalitions. For more information: www.sbdiocese.org/about/immigration.cfm.

But with ongoing federal raids sweeping through the region, causing many undocumented immigrants to hide, more clients have started to cancel their appointments, Sanabria said. He chalked it up to one thing: panic.

“There is a mantle of fear experienced by people with immigration matters,” said Sanabria.  “(It’s) affecting the quality of life of people and their daily and normal routine lives.”

As President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign continues to target these communities, Southern California immigration attorneys and those who work in the legal field said their clients are experiencing more uncertainty than ever before — especially in a system advocates say is insurmountable and lacks real humanity.

Last week, Department of Homeland Security officials said that over 1,600 immigrants were arrested for deportation since the Southern California raids began in June, and officials are promising more round-ups, under Trump’s goal of around 3,000 daily arrests nationwide.

On Monday, the Department of Justice sued Los Angeles over its “sanctuary city” policy, claiming the ordinance violates federal law by “obstructing enforcement of federal immigration law… necessary for officials to keep Americans safe.”

Though the Trump administration promised to focus on violent criminals, reports show a majority of those rounded up by ICE have no criminal convictions. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, affirmed federal efforts “focused on finding illegal immigrants with criminal records, and removing them from our community,” in a statement Tuesday. “Individuals going through the legal immigration process should be allowed to do so. ICE agents are not attorneys – they enforce immigration laws. Immigration attorneys should know and follow current laws as they assist undocumented individuals through the legal process.”

Kim led the newly passed resolution denouncing anti-ICE protests that broke out across Los Angeles, and other Southern California cities, in June, which the resolution called “violent riots.”

Over the past few weeks across the region, people have been detained at work, in stores and at courthouses during routine hearings – and many are being denied due process once under ICE custody, these immigration lawyers say.

“We’re talking to them about how their cases could go, but also checking in on how they are doing, as a human being. We need to always try and center that — because we are dealing with humans,” said Karla Aguayo, director of Legal Services with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). “I feel like that’s been lost in all of this, with the way folks are being treated by agencies removing the humanity, (not) being treated with dignity. We’re trying to restore and center that.”

Aguayo said that things have become more “frustrating” overall when it comes to providing legal support to detainees and families, especially those feeling “shut out” from the system.

“From an attorney standpoint, these are constitutional violations. We sometimes have no idea how many people were removed without access to speak to counsel,” she said. “Even in the first Trump administration, there was more access — it wasn’t like jumping hurdles. But now, patience is being tested. You’re at the mercy of detention officers and guards. It’s like, how long are you willing to wait (to see) folks being processed? It seems like a tactic.”

Yazmin Mercado, a legal advocate with the San Bernardino-based Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ICIJ), pushed for a more compassionate approach.

Undocumented immigrants have worked hard, bought homes, established businesses, raised children, and have “had their whole lives established here,” she said.  “They really have their roots here in the Inland Empire and not having any pathway to any sort of legal status…it’s heartbreaking.”

The ICIJ, a network of over 35 immigration advocacy groups serving the Inland Empire, hosts regular legal clinics, citizenship, family preparedness and “Know Your Rights” workshops. In recent months, groups have ramped up rapid response networks to ICE and border patrol operations. Though not an attorney, Mercado – along with the rest of the ICIJ staff – files legal paperwork on behalf of clients due to her accreditation with the California Department of Justice. She said she has seen longtime community members get detained.

With growing reports of enforcement officers showing up to immigrant hubs and workplaces without warning, wearing masks and not identifying themselves, and immigration fraudsters preying on the most vulnerable, legal experts say these acts have only fanned the flames of fear in communities.

Mercado noted that many clients have encountered impostors, fake “notarios” or notaries not authorized to practice immigration law or represent individuals, some of whom might be taking advantage of people desperate to find a path to legal status. Part of her job now is telling clients that, depending on their backgrounds, without a straight pathway to citizenship they shouldn’t file applications that could ultimately result in deportation.

“It’s hard – heartbreaking – having to tell people that, but it’s the reality,” Mercado said. “A lot of people get false or wrong advice, and that’s the scary part.”

Trump issued a memo in March accusing immigration firms and attorneys of “unscrupulous” behavior for reportedly coaching asylum applicants to “lie about their circumstances” to obtain “undeserved relief,” and he called for sanctions against any bad actors.

But these immigration lawyers — refusing to be intimidated from their work — affirmed that every individual has the right to due process.

As more people seek to protect themselves from fraud, while searching for viable roads to citizenship, many say the demand for credible legal services has both surged and been hampered.

Attorney Frances Arroyo works with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, which aids clients with asylum and refugee status, green card applications, family reunification and removal defense, among other immigration services. Arroyo said there is a high demand for counsel amid growing ICE activity — but things like financial constraints, widespread fears, and a “lack of due process” have caused fewer overall to seek legal help.

Attorney Connie Chung Joe, chief executive officer of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), said the organization has also seen an uptick in legal aid requests, but case-by-case sensitivity is required. The civil rights organization offers services from naturalization workshops and info sessions to representing families in court.

Immigrants already face significant language, financial, or other barriers when it comes to obtaining citizenship, Chung Joe said, and are now being targeted “just for starting that process.”

Some visa applications could be delayed during court visits due to “administrative issues,” Chung Joe said. ICE has also begun detaining some immigrants – including people applying for U-visas and T-visas, which protect victims of crimes and human trafficking – as they leave the courthouse.

Federal immigration judges have also dismissed cases under “arbitrary circumstances,” Mercado, with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said. ICE agents have entered courtrooms, causing folks following the proper legal process to not show up for court. Not appearing could have even more serious implications for those pursuing legal status, and make lawyers’ jobs harder, she said.

The loss of federal funding — and lack of legal service providers — has also made it harder for people to find legitimate relief, many advocates said. They face issues such as general mistrust of the system, or legal information being lost in translation.

Lawyers and relief organizations are also struggling to find detained clients, some attorneys said. Chung Joe and Aguayo, from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said that detainees are not being brought to their mandated court hearings and are sometimes transferred to overcrowded detention centers with “inhumane” conditions.

Mercado, from the ICIJ, said her undocumented clients have also been moved out of state, making it more difficult for family members to communicate or provide them with legal help. A “lack of consistency and no transparency” are just some hurdles legal representatives face when providing timely, effective legal support.

Getting access to detained clients in California has also been more challenging than before, she said. At the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in the High Desert, advance appointments must be made for any visits, and the center’s “messy” administrative system doesn’t help – sometimes lawyers or representatives have been turned away altogether. In early June, three members of Congress — Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Covina and Rep. Derek Tran, D-Cypress — and several pro-immigration groups were barred from the facility. Also, phone calls for coordinating services cost money, which many detainees do not have.

Another obstacle lawyers said they’ve faced is ever-changing policies in an already complex, “unfeeling” immigration system.

Both Aguayo and Chung Joe said that, under Trump directives, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is constantly changing its requirements for citizenship, lawful permanent residence. For example, the requirement for in-person interviews has caused genuine fears of being detained at mandated appearances. And there’s an administrative burden, making immigration cases “far more arduous than before Trump came into office,” Chung Joe added.

“Officers that review applications are asked to be a lot more meticulous, more investigative in nature… like they’re trying to ‘catch’ the applicant,” said Aguayo. “It changes not eligibility, per se, but the level of scrutiny.”

She also noted an increase in memos for those denied affirmative relief, who can be “placed in removal proceedings.” More applicants who get denied, for various reasons, are seeing notices to leave the country – a significant shift, under the current administration, from older immigration policies.

“The administration is making it harder and harder for people to apply, be granted asylum, citizenship or different remedies, and that is by design,” Chung Joe added. “Knowing that we, as (legal and civil rights) organizations, are being attacked and threatened, while at the same time having to try to do this work and try to meet the moment – it’s a lot.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a response from Republican Congresswoman Young Kim and attempts to reach DHS and ICE. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

With the Trump administration’s efforts to cut diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across government and in higher education, and the removal of marginalized people’s stories — including Black leaders throughout history — from federal websites, many worry the future of Juneteenth is uncertain.

Juneteenth commemorates the formal end of slavery after the Civil War, when the last enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas were notified of their freedom on June 19, 1865 — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

Today, June 19 marks a celebration of freedom, cultural heritage, and the contributions of African American communities to the U.S. It became a federally recognized holiday in 2021.

Though some worried over the federal anti-DEI sentiment, many organizers and community members say there is a renewed emphasis to honor Black history, struggle and achievement. Across the Southland, many attending and planning Juneteenth events this year — including in Pomona, Buena Park, Santa Ana, Long Beach and south Los Angeles — say that focusing on Black joy and excellence is a crucial part of this year’s celebrations.

From lively community festivals to art exhibitions, events before, on and after June 19 reflected the community’s desire for togetherness — in an increasingly divided world.

Juneteenth is “a time to reflect on the legacy of resilience and resistance, and to stand together in recognition of the progress made and the work that still remains,” said Gilbert J. Contreras, president of San Bernardino Valley College, in a statement.

The college hosted its annual “Juneteenth Jam” event on campus on Wednesday, which included a screening of the movie “Sinners,” soul food, live music, and history presentations from the SBVC Umoja community.

Contreras said that San Bernardino Valley College is “honored” to observe Juneteenth as a space to reflect, bringing together students and community members across the region to celebrate Black history.

The L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation recognized Juneteenth with two weekends of free events at local parks in Sylmar, Azusa, Cerritos, Sun Village and Compton. The celebrations included cultural workshops, sports tournaments, live performances and food, “all designed to uplift community spirit,” according to a news release.

“Juneteenth is a powerful opportunity to honor the legacy, culture, and resilience of Black Americans,” said department director Norma E. García-González in the release. “These events are about more than celebration—they’re about connection, education, and amplifying the voices of our communities. We are proud to open our parks as spaces of unity and empowerment.”

Pastor Rob Shropshire is the founder of LOVEFOURUS, a group of Inland Empire business owners who are passionate about bringing the Black community together. This year, the group celebrated Juneteenth with a week-long series of community events around San Bernardino, leading up to the organization’s 3rd annual Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration on June 19.

Shropshire admitted that getting financial support at these events “has been challenging, especially this time around, under the Trump administration.” Because the holiday revolves “around Black history and Black people,” he said, there is almost always some pushback.

But honoring Juneteenth, he said, is still worth the effort — no matter what happens on the federal level.

“Nevertheless, we refuse to give up. We refuse to not celebrate. It wouldn’t matter if nobody showed up, we’re still going to celebrate, because it’s for the community.”

Referring to the National Park Service’s earlier alteration to its webpage about civil rights activist Harriet Tubman, Shropshire said that if someone “decided they want to erase history, (that) doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.”

Shropshire said that he’s all too familiar with that feeling of being hidden. He promised to continue the work, honoring his late grandmother Louise Shropshire, a long-unnamed composer of the popular Civil Rights Movement hymn “We Shall Overcome.”

In February, President Trump marked Black History Month at the White House without a mention of DEI, which he has repeatedly called “discrimination.” The event seemed to clash with his executive order, issued early on in his presidency, to end DEI programs including “identity months” such as Black History, Women’s History, or Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage months.

Though some community leaders worried this year could be one of the last formally recognized Juneteenth holidays, in an anti-DEI Trump administration, many vowed to keep fighting. The president alone doesn’t have the power to create — or cancel — federal holidays, which are established by Congress, some pointed out.

Long Beach resident Carl Kemp sees Juneteenth as more than a sanctioned holiday, but a time for people to gather, rest and reflect. Kemp, who works at Long Beach City College as the director of public affairs and marketing, helped organize the 5th annual Juneteenth celebration in the city’s downtown area last weekend.

Last weekend’s mostly-peaceful “No Kings” anti-ICE protests had no effect on the June 14 celebration, which Kemp said was “the biggest crowd we’ve ever had.” Kemp said the Juneteenth event, which included diverse performers, vendors, art installations and community resources, was “one of the safest places for Black people in the region… like a Black family reunion.”

“No one here is worrying about anything negative; everyone is feeling a sense of peace, of joy. As I think about this first Juneteenth under the Trump administration, I think about what our event has been year after year to the community, and what it’s meant to be… a space where Black people — and people who love Black people — could celebrate joy, dignity, and excellence,” Kemp said.

That message — of rest, union, and joy as resistance — is “consistent no matter who is in the White House or what they might be trying to do to dismantle that unity or celebration of diversity.”

Kemp hopes people who have the day off will take time to reflect on the community’s past, present and future contributions to society. He pointed out how Juneteenth celebrates the end of Black free labor.

“Now more than ever, our community needs this joy. Being Black in America, you become used to swimming in more viscous waters… but Black people are the original people who make America great,” he said. “As we celebrate freedom on Juneteenth, and the gains Black people have made in this country, may we also remember there are people in this country who continue to make it great, by making those thin margins — and cheap labor — work.”

A June 19 celebration in Altadena will take on a resilient tenor after the devastation of the Eaton fire, organizers from the Altadena Historical Society said. The ticketed noon event at Loma Alta Park includes a special preview of its oral history video project, featuring stories from Eaton fire victims and Altadena residents.

Society president Veronica Jones called Juneteenth “another Independence Day” that takes center stage in Altadena, which historically has had a large Black population.

“As we remember Juneteenth, we remember the struggles and triumphs of those who came before us. That perseverance is important right now for Altadena,” Jones, 71, said. “Especially now with the fire, it’s more important that we tell our history and that we know what that history is, that we don’t leave things out — even the ugly things.”

Four local high school students — including one who lost their home in the fire — will be presented a scholarship award named after civil rights activist and educator Ellen Garrison Clark. On Juneteenth 2021, the Altadena Historical Society celebrated Clark’s legacy by marking her grave at the Mountain View Cemetery.

Some advocates brought up the state’s ongoing fight for reparations, which would involve California paying eligible Black residents descended from slaves, to atone for its history of institutional racism and discrimination.

Last June, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a series of bills addressing the state’s role in slavery, and set aside $12 million to spend on reparations legislation, but that movement has since stalled. Efforts to renew the movement have included several legislative bills, introduced and based on recommendations from the California Reparations Task Force, to address systemic harms and verify individuals’ lineage.

Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter, a professor of sociology and African American Studies at UCLA and author of “Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation,” said that Juneteenth “was always meant to be accompanied by reparations.”

“Let us remember that until we have reparations, we are not fully experiencing the Juneteenth that the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (who introduced the resolution establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday) intended for us to have,” Hunter added.

Still, community leaders reflected on Juneteenth’s legacy, celebrated for decades long before becoming a holiday, and said that spirit isn’t going anywhere — no matter who is in office.

“For over 150 years, Juneteenth was kept alive by Black families and communities—even as textbooks and federal calendars ignored it,” said Glenn Harris, president of Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Race Forward, in a statement. “Juneteenth became a cultural and political force, not because the government officially recognized it, but because we told our story. They tried to silence us but we told our story anyway.”

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the president of San Bernardino Valley College.

“Oh my God,” he said slowly and softly, his mouth agape as the stream played out on the monitor in front of him.

On the screen: A United States senator, the first Latino from California in that role, the one raised by immigrant parents in this very part of L.A. — the community of Pacoima — was being forced to the floor by federal agents and then handcuffed.

Just moments before, on that very monitor, he’d been watching an app that reports to show where Immigration and Customs Enforcement stops were happening across the country.

He scooted the monitor over to show a reporter how on this Thursday afternoon — just hours after Padilla went to the mat — the raids Padilla was protesting were highly concentrated in L.A.

In fact, one of the multitude of blips on the screen, just down the street, was near a Target store in the heart of Pacoima.

A week after amped-up immigration sweeps began in earnest in L.A., the widely seen incident at U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem’s press conference at the Federal Building in Westwood on Thursday was rippling into Padilla’s own L.A. hometown. The only thing overshadowing it, perhaps, was fear of ICE raids.

This is Padilla country, the place he often touts as the starting point to his journey to the U.S. Senate, and now ultimately at the forefront of the region’s clash with the Trump Administration over its immigration raids in the region.

It’s here, where in one of the oldest neighborhoods in the northern San Fernando Valley, a stretch along Van Nuys Boulevard over the years morphed into the “Mural Mile,” richly adorned with 50 murals representing Pacoima’s cultures in a three-mile radius. This is the town, after all, that was the birthplace of rock legend Ritchie Valens. There’s a mural. And then there’s the fierce stare of Danny Trejo as you head north on the boulevard. Yes. A mural.

There’s the barbershop, the community center, the panaderia, the street vendors… . It’s a town that makes no bones about its deep immigrant roots.

And it’s a community where Padilla, 52, began his ascent in L.A., state and ultimately national politics.

It was an unlikely ascent at that — but one many, including himself, define as the culmination of an immigrant family’s journey to the American Dream.

From Prop. 187 to ICE raids

Local allies and many constituents have long known Padilla’s origin story: A Pacoima kid and San Fernando High School graduate who watched his father carve out a living as a dishwasher and short-order cook in the San Fernando Valley and whose mom cleaned houses in nearby affluent Sherman Oaks.

From such humble origins, the tall Padilla, whose first love was baseball but with a penchant for math and science, found his way to MIT, where he studied mechanical engineering. Still, he was from blue-collar Pacoima, long a hub for L.A.’s Latinos going back generations, and it fueled a sensitivity to inequities in health, education, and in the workplace.

The politics of late 1980s and early 1990s San Fernando Valley and L.A. was the catalyst into public service for a young Padilla and many of his contemporaries from L.A.’s growing Latino base of the time.

Those politics were defined much in part by another intense era of anti-immigrant fervor. Proposition 187, a 1994 California ballot initiative approved by voters, aimed to deny undocumented immigrants access to public services, including education, healthcare, and social services. It also required reporting of suspected undocumented immigrants to authorities.

The courts ultimately struck it down, but the fervor propelled Padilla into public service. He would join protests against Prop. 187 in the early ’90s, ultimately finding a path into politics and government, managing political campaigns for several legislative candidates and serving as a field representative for Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

By 1999, at age 26, he’d be elected to the L.A. City Council, becoming the body’s first Latino president, and its youngest. By 2006, voters gave him the nod for the state Senate.

The rest is more modern history, which aligns with the Gavin Newsom era on the state level and the Trump and Biden eras on the national scene.

At 47, Newsom appointed him to fill the vacancy created by the election of Vice President Kamala Harris, and the next year, 2022, he won election to the seat.

Full-circle fray

And then this week, it all came full circle for Padilla, with shades of the Prop. 187 fervor that got him into politics in the first place.

In a June 10 tweet, he said as much, comparing now to then: “It was the anti-immigrant rhetoric of Prop. 187 in 1994 that first launched me into politics,” he wrote. “Now, we are witnessing the same level of xenophobia from the White House, and it is fueling a level of extremism, cruelty and disregard for due process that has no place in our country.”

But in contrast to the 1990s, he’s now the senior senator from California, a state in a protracted standoff over the legality of the administration federalizing the state’s National Guard and sending in Marines to what White House officials say is an effort to bring order back to the area.

On Thursday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in her new conference that “We are not going away” moments before the senator was forcibly removed.

Video shows a Secret Service agent on Noem’s security detail grabbing the California senator by his jacket and shoving him from the room as he tried to speak up during the DHS secretary’s event. Padilla interrupted the news conference after Noem delivered a particularly pointed line, saying federal authorities were not going away but planned to stay and increase operations to “liberate” the city from its “socialist” leadership.

“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he shouted in a halting voice.

In a statement, DHS said that Padilla “chose disrespectful political theater” and that Secret Service “thought he was an attacker.”

The rough treatment of Padilla was widely condemned, including by Newsom, who called it “outrageous, dictatorial and shameful,” and by Mayor Karen Bass, who labeled it “absolutely abhorrent and outrageous.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said Padilla should be charged, because although Padilla verbally identified himself as a senator, he was not wearing the pin that identifies lawmakers from civilians.

Trump this week ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to L.A. following protests over his administration’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. That enforcement has led to dozens of workers detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in a series of raids that include in LA’s fashion district and at Home Depot parking lots in Southern California.

Federal immigration authorities have been ramping up arrests across the country to fulfill President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations with a goal of making the nation safer.

Todd Lyons, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended his tactics earlier this week against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed. He has said ICE is averaging about 1,600 arrests per day and that the agency has arrested “dangerous criminals.”

Back home

In Pacoima on Thursday, not everyone was thinking about Padilla.  Some didn’t even know about what happened.

Some residents knew Padilla from signs they’d see around town with his name. Others weren’t yet even born when he became the L.A. City Council’s first Latino president in 2001.

There were more pressing concerns. Raids. Business owners said they’d seen ICE vehicles driving along Van Nuys Boulevard. They worry about the drop in customers, who are staying away out of fear of being picked up by federal agents.

Cindy, who declined to give her last name out of concern amid the raids, wondered: “If a person in such a high position, if they can do this, what do they expect for us?”

Cindy runs a party supply business in town and said her shop had been hit hard over the recent days. Customers have been canceling or reducing orders during the normally busy graduation season. People don’t want to make a spectacle out of fear it might attract federal agents, she said.

Like many L.A. County cities, where immigrants have made livings cooking, serving, gardening, building, retailing, cleaning, many in Padilla’s hometown are staying home. An enterprising spirit has been replaced with fear of being detained, or worse.

Cindy said her business has seen an abrupt dip in sales as the raids grip L.A. She ran through some of the numbers over the last couple of weeks: Six cancellations, two reduced orders. In a festive season she relies on, customers have turned away.

“The vendors are just not working that much,” she lamented. Those vendors are also her customers. So when they stay home, out of fear, they cut back. And then there’s the customers who are downsizing because they don’t want to make too much of spectacle – to be too noticed, she said, adding she’s been told this directly by her clients.

“Everybody’s gone,” said Reynoso, concerned about the lack of business at the small shop in recent days since the ICE sweeps began.

After hearing about Padilla and a reported ICE arrest nearby, Clarissa Sacedo, her cousins and a neighbor ventured out to the corner of Osborne Street and Lauren Canyon Boulevard.

Waving a Mexican flag, they marched at the intersection, attracting drivers and others who would listen that “we belong here,” not ICE. Honks of support echoed.

A lone vendor on Laurel Canyon mused on how a street once “stacked” with vendors is now pretty much empty of them.

In March 2021, Padilla gave his first speech on the Senate floor, to introduce himself to his fellow senators, in his first appointed term. His voice cracked, much like it did this week when describing the situation at the press conference. He held back tears. He took his place at the lectern: “My name is Alex Padilla y soy el hijo de Santos y Lupe Padilla…”

His speech was framed by his now-familiar backstory: The middle son of Mexican immigrants who settled their family in Pacoima.

The new senator flashed back to his roots. He reflected on his mother, a housekeeper, and his father, a short-order cook.

“It seemed liked she never took a day off, ” he said.

“Think about that. In one generation our family has gone from being immigrant cooks and house cleaners to serving in the United States Senate,” he said.

“That’s the California Dream. That’s the American Dream.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Last weekend, Burdette, 75, took part in a peaceful demonstration in Paramount, near the Home Depot site of a federal immigration raid targeting day laborers last Friday. She wanted to use her peace-keeping skills as a longtime activist, helping to de-escalate growing tensions between law enforcement and protestors.

While protesting on the open street, Burdette said her first instinct was to get on her knees, head bowed in a humble prayer posture.

Then it happened fast — on one side, a bus sent to pick up detainees barrelled toward her; on the other, pepper spray from a law enforcement officer pelted her face, she said.

“It didn’t get into my eyes since my face was down. But it was chilling,” Burdette said. “I consider non-violence as sacred, which my faith tells me is important — it’s an instinct honed during the civil rights movement. When all else is lost, when it seems there is no other recourse, prayer is where I go.”

With escalating tensions between immigration advocates and agents following federal orders to detain immigrants across Southern California, people of faith, like Burdette, are turning to their beliefs to try and make sense of what’s happening.

From protesters on the front lines to pastors preaching to their congregations, many say immigrants, and the community at large, are looking for answers in times of fear and hopelessness.

Burdette, in her decades of protesting peacefully for civil rights, women’s rights, and in anti-war demonstrations, said she had never been involved in any violent encounters until that Saturday.

After all that happened, she said it was “nice to have church the next day, to decompress,” and encouraged fellow church-goers to continue showing up in places of worship if they feel safe to do so. Having a spiritually supportive and protected space is important for immigrants — for anyone — to feel less alone, she said.

But many fear that supposedly safe sanctuaries could be violated by immigration enforcement. On Wednesday afternoon, June 11, leaders and residents expressed their sorrow and anger after ICE agents arrested an unidentified man at a Christian church in Downey.

Houses of worship should be preserved as sanctuaries, said Pastor Ivan Pitts of Second Baptist Church in Santa Ana, adding that Jesus Christ “never denied someone their humanity. He challenged people to do better, to go and sin no more.”

“Whether you’re an ICE agent or illegal immigrant, you should be able to sit and pray together, with no fear,” Pitts said. “The church is supposed to be a safe place — if you can’t go there, there is no place you can go.”

ICE agents were also reported Wednesday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Downey, but officials said the activity took place outside of church grounds and did not involve anyone at the church, said Archdiocese of L.A. spokesperson Yannina Diaz on Thursday.

At least 14 members of the Episcopal Diocese of L.A. were detained as part of ICE raids over the weekend, diocese leaders said.

There were no further confirmed reports of ICE activity known at L.A., Orange County and Inland area places of worship, as of Thursday afternoon.

Faith leaders pray — and rally

At multiple immigrants’ rights protests and vigils, local pastors, rabbis, imams, leaders and community members representing diverse faith traditions have walked Los Angeles streets in peaceful prayer, echoing calls to stop ongoing ICE operations as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Federal immigration authorities have been ramping up that campaign in Southern California and across the country in an effort to fulfill Trump’s promise of mass deportations with a goal of making the nation safer.

Trump this week ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to L.A. following protests over his administration’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. That enforcement has led to dozens of workers detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in a series of raids that include in LA’s fashion district and at Home Depot parking lots in Southern California.

Todd Lyons, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended his tactics earlier this week against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed. He has said ICE is averaging about 1,600 arrests per day and that the agency has arrested “dangerous criminals.”

Other more conservative faith leaders were adamant about their stance on Trump’s immigration orders.

“I support 100% President Trump’s goal of protecting our country from evildoers, whether from within or without,” said Rev. Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor in Dallas. “The president has authority from the Constitution and the Bible to do exactly what he’s doing.”

At a special Catholic “Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice” on Wednesday, June 13, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown L.A., attendees gathered and sang popular hymns “Let There Be Peace on Earth” and the “Prayer of St. Francis.”

L.A. Archbishop José H. Gomez and Diocese of Orange Bishop Kevin Vann co-celebrated the Mass. In his homily, Gomez lifted up prayers “for peace in our streets and in our city.”

“We are facing a challenging moment. Many of our neighbors are frightened; there’s too much tension, uncertainty and violence,” Gomez said. “We pray for our neighbors who are hurting; good, hardworking men and women, people of faith. We pray for the police and for all those who put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe, and for our leaders.”

Meanwhile, Vann and other bishops from the Diocese of Orange, criticized how enforcement operations have begotten widespread fear in the community, calling on the country’s leaders to instead focus on “thoughtful change.”

“Immigration laws have their place in society, as does enforcement of them, particularly to apprehend known criminals,” their statement said. “But there is also a place for enforcment that does not invoke our worst instincts, that does not spread crippling fear and anxieties upon the hard-working, everyday faithful among us.”

On social media, San Bernardino Diocese Bishop Alberto Rojas shared prayers “for our immigrant brothers and sisters — especially the families within our own diocese who now live with renewed fear and uncertainty. These are not strangers to us — they are our neighbors, our parishioners, our friends.”

The Diocese of San Bernardino offers immigration resources, from citizenship courses and “Know Your Rights” trainings, to legal workshops and ESL classes. Officials have close relationships with Guatemalan, Salvadoran and Mexican consulates to help people process citizenship applications and obtain legal documentation, said Wilfredo Aguirre, who works with the Office of Justice for Immigrants.

Having these faith-based resources — especially through the local church, a place people can trust — is crucial for those in need, Aguirre said.

“The teaching of the church is that we protect life from conception to natural death, and we advocate for every aspect of human life, created in the image of God. When we round up people indignantly, as if they were cattle — or describe them as collaterals, criminals or rapists — we are denying their dignity. And that’s what we, at the church, are trying to fight,” Aguirre said.

“At the heart of all this is our Christian value, the idea of hope,” said Aguirre. “We are a religion, a faith, a people of hope.”

Community organizer Beatriz, who asked not to publish her last name due to immigration safety concerns, works with Inland Congregations United for Change, a nonprofit made up of over 60 faith congregations serving the Inland Valley. She said that, though growing ICE operations across the Southland have stoked fear in communities, it’s also sparked compassion in action.

“People of faith in our network are feeling compassion for those being taken by ICE,” she said in Spanish.

“Our brothers and sisters are hard-working people with dignity. They’re business owners and essential workers. But before all of that, they are brothers and sisters created in the image of God, and they are deserving of life, dignity and respect,” Beatriz said.

Luz Gallegos, the executive director of TODEC Legal Center, works directly with Latino immigrant communities across the Inland region, hosting “Know Your Rights” workshops and participating in rallies. She said that Latinos are a “resilient people of faith. “

“A lot of workers tell us before they leave for work, they pray to Jesus, asking Him to take care of them and their families, and even their neighbors,” she said. “Faith brings a lot of strength within our community.”

Gallegos emphasized the importance of taking actions to protect oneself and neighbors, while also staying faithful in prayer.

“During these difficult times, we can’t rely on faith on its own,” she said. “We have to know preventive measures and actions to keep us and our families safe.”

From pulpits to the front lines

The work of faith leaders, said Pastor Lee de León of Templo Calvario Church in Santa Ana, is to advocate for the well-being of all congregants, regardless of legal status, and to work with leadership “to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable of our community.”

“As faith leaders, God’s call to us is to work for the peace and prosperity of our city. When that is being destroyed or challenged, we must speak up,” de León said.

“As people of faith, we are called upon to love your neighbor as yourself, regardless of where they come from, and we are to welcome the stranger,” said Rev. Karen Davis, pastor of First Christian Church in Glendora and a member of the Glendora City Council.

“Joseph, Mary and Jesus themselves were refugees fleeing into Egypt, and with that in mind, we are to offer compassion, kindness and allow for due process,” said Davis, who also serves as chaplain of the city’s police department. “As people of faith, we are to stand with and speak up for ‘the least of these.’”

For Hussam Ayloush, the fight for immigrant rights hits home. He said activism is a “mandate” of his beliefs.

“The Quran says that God bestowed dignity to all human beings. Justice and seeking justice for all people is a core tenet in Islamic faith,” Ayloush said.

“When I see Brown and Black people being attacked, whether in L.A. being beaten up or being banned from coming to this country, I see people who look like me, who look like my wife and my children,” Ayloush said. “Our country was built on the foundation of liberty and justice for all people, but as U.S. history shows, we haven’t always been true to those values.”

The Islamic Society of Orange County planned a “Day of Solidarity” event, with undocumented and immigrant communities and Muslim leaders, on Friday, June 13 at 2:15 p.m. at the Garden Grove mosque.

In his most recent Sunday sermon, Rev. Christopher Montella of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Santa Clarita talked about honoring the dignity of all people, regardless of status. He urged his congregation to remove all judgment, fear and hate.

“Is our immigration and asylum-seeking process broken? Yes. Is the answer to just scoop up all those who might be undocumented residents and ship them out to detention camps? No,” Montella said. “If we are truly going to live into the truth of the Spirit, then we must do better. We must be better as a society.”

L.A. United Methodist Church Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank said she was “brokenhearted” by the uptick in ICE activity, and called on “all Christ-following people, and on all tenderhearted people, to stand with those who are being ripped apart from their families… be witnesses on the streets so that the horror does not happen under cover. Pray for justice to prevail, because we all know that without justice, there is no peace. Use your power for good, and not for evil.”

As anti-ICE raid protests continue to spread, leaders nationally have shared messages of solidarity.

Zach Lambert, lead pastor at Restore Church in Austin, Texas, has been closely following the immigration enforcement operations and protests in L.A., noting that his church is home to a significant Latino population, as well as many LGBTQ+ congregants.

With “very real fears” among the community, his message to all is to “consider the words Jesus spoke during his Sermon on the Mount: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’.” He noted the difference from “peacekeepers,” from those looking the other way when injustice happens.

Peacemakers, on the other hand, “step into situations courageously to make a Christlike difference,” he said.

“We are never more like God than when we are peacemaking,” said Lambert, noting examples of clergy during the Civil Rights movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who stepped into tangible leadership roles. In times of unrest, Lambert said, churches need to adopt a message of solidarity, and people need to “develop an imagination for how to become a peacemaker.”

Staff writers Anissa Rivera, Kristy Hutchings and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

“As people of faith, we call for nonviolence,” said Yesenia Padilla, a spokesperson with interfaith advocacy group LA Voice. “Advocating for the values of Los Angeles — welcoming and protecting our immigrant neighbors who are indelible threads in the fabric of our county, in this city. We affirm the dignity of our immigrant loved ones.”

Members of different faith communities came together late Tuesday for a peaceful prayer vigil in support of immigrants held at Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown L.A.

The interfaith vigil — co-organized by LA Voice, PICO California, the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice and a host of pro-immigrant groups — was “the faith community’s response to militarized, coordinated ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids; a call of prayerful peace,” organizers said.

The peaceful service — which was over before the 8 p.m. downtown L.A. curfew issued Tuesday evening by Mayor Karen Bass — included prayer, songs of praise, and the lighting of candles around the park and civic center area. People were invited to bring symbols of their faith tradition and photos of immigrant family members, to have them blessed and lifted up.

The solemn evening called for faith communities to stand together amid growing immigration raids and actions across the Southern California region. People representing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and other faith traditions gathered peacefully, echoing calls to stop ongoing ICE operations as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Jesuit priest Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, East L.A’s renowned gang intervention and rehabilitation program, led the service in an opening prayer.

“We stand here in prayer, with our sisters and brothers who are frightened and terrified, and are just trying to live their lives and provide for their sacred families,” Father Boyle said. “We will not abandon you. We stand in prayer — that as you are demonized, we stand with you. If you are seen as disposable, we stand and declare that we will not forget you. We stand with a vision that brings us together and unites us with the God of love, who loves us without measure or regret; remembering and joining you in your struggle.”

L.A. Archbishop José H. Gomez thanked people for coming to the rally “in a spirit of prayer,” and said a special prayer to Mary, “Our Lady of the Angels.”

“Our country was founded on the belief that every man and woman is created with human dignity and human rights — that comes from God, and can never be denied. This beautiful belief is what makes America great,” said Gomez. “We are praying tonight for the good people of this city; for those we work and go to church with, for our families and children. For police and all those who put their lives on the line to keep our community safe, and for our leaders in Washington — that they come to the realization of the importance of immigration reform.”

“Immigration is about more than politics; it’s about us, it’s about what kind of people we want to be, what kind of country America is meant to be,” he added.

Archbishop Gomez will preside over a special “Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice” on Wednesday, June 11 at 12:10 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, calling for unity and healing in tumultuous times, the Archdiocese said.

L.A. Mayor Bass also spoke at Tuesday’s vigil, decrying the ICE raids and calling out leaders in Washington D.C.

Bass prayed over L.A. and neighboring cities, praying for guidance and strength, “as we face an unprecedented moment to obey the law of the land, while protecting the lives of Angelenos who seek to earn an honest living, educate and care for their young, and live in peace and freedom.”

“A city of many peoples is our Los Angeles — many religions, traditions; a marvelous mosaic where even our differences are part of our strength,” she said. “It is our refusal to give in to violence and retaliation. We will fight for all Angelenos regardless of when they came here, where they were from, or how they got here.”

Jennifer Gutierrez, a United Methodist Church minister in L.A. and the executive director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), said before the prayer service that it was crucial to combat the false narrative — shared by President Trump — that there is rampant violence happening in L.A. Protests have been largely peaceful, Gutierrez said, and it’s important to keep things that way — for people to be able to safely, peacefully express their right to assemble.

“In this moment, any perception of violence in Los Angeles is going to be an excuse to send more law enforcement… (it’s) more likely to escalate an already tense situation,” Gutierrez said. “We’re out here because our faith calls us to be. It gives us a vision of the type of world we want to build, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would say. Our faith gives us courage to respond; it calls us to do what we need to do to make that happen.”

Gutierrez urged faith communities to come out to CLUE’s regular prayer vigils in front of the ICE field office in downtown L.A. The open vigils are joined by “mothers, aunties, women looking for their children… it’s women of faith who give voice to those taken from us,” she said. She also encouraged law enforcement members to join, because “some of them may be people of faith and conscience as well.”

CLUE works with different faith communities and pro-immigrant organizations across Southern California, offering resources such as know-your-rights trainings, rapid response hotlines for reporting ICE activity and arrests in Los Angeles and Orange County, accompanying families and individuals in immigration courtrooms, and a Detained Immigrant Bond Fund.

Rabbi Sharon Brous, founder of L.A. Jewish community IKAR, quoted the late civil rights activist and politician John Lewis in her remarks, calling for people of faith to stand together.

“The person who oppresses — and the one who witnesses the oppression, but remains silent —  is the same. The moral message is clear: we do not accept the world as it is; we respond to cruelty with courage, to hatred with love, and more love, and more love. When we rise together in protest of the violent, unlawful raids on our communities,” Brous said, “it is fueled not only by theological instinct, but by lessons learned by our own communities’ experiences with persecution and pain.”

Brous also condemned the recent detention of Torrance Elementary fourth-grader Martir Garcia Lara and his father, whom ICE officials said would be deported to Honduras.

“Our conscience calls us to act — our faith, our history, our broken hearts, calls us to act. At some point it becomes necessary to use our bodies to help redeem the soul of the nation. That time is now.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Ringo Chiu’s exhibit, “Hope out of Fire,” opens this weekend at the Shops at Santa Anita in Arcadia, and next week in Yorba Linda.

The installation, opened during Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in partnership with the L.A. Chinese Culture Development Center, is part of an “AAPI: Living Heritages” exhibit and the first in Chiu’s “Ringo & Friends” series. It showcases 40 images from 10 award-winning local photographers, many of them from the Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles.

The exhibit includes compelling shots from the Southern California News Group’s Keith Birmingham and Sarah Reingewirtz, photojournalists who covered the aftermath of the L.A. wildfires in January.

“I believe in the power of images to connect us — to share pain and to heal. I hope these photographs do just that,” Chiu said on social media. “Through stories of loss, resilience and compassion, the exhibited pictures capture both the devastation of the flames and the strength and unity of those affected, raising awareness and support to bring people together in times of healing and rebuilding. Every image in this collection tells how people came together in the face of crisis, how community bonding spreads faster than the flames, and how strength is found in solidarity.”

Arcadia Councilmember Paul Cheng said the “Hope out of Fire” photo exhibition “isn’t just about art — it’s about memory, resilience, and human connection.”

It highlights “the courage of our local firefighters and the strength of the communities impacted,” Cheng said. “I believe stories like these help remind us of who we are — and what we can overcome together.”

The exhibit runs in conjunction with Chiu’s “Taste China” showcase, featuring food and culture photography from China’s Sichuan and Guangdong provinces.

Both exhibits located at the Santa Anita mall’s center court, on the first floor, are open through Monday, May 26. Address: 400 S. Baldwin Ave. in Arcadia.

The joint displays will move to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd. in Yorba Linda, on May 27 and 28.

Frances Contreras was ousted from her position as the former dean of the UCI School of Education. Contreras said that she received the notice March 31 without warning, preventing her from engaging in a five-year review – a process she said is afforded to her peers under University of California policy – and is calling for a formal investigation.

Contreras, who began her role in 2022, became the University of California’s first Latina/Chicana dean to head a school of education in the UC system.

During her three-year tenure, Contreras claims she went through incidents of defamation, intimidation, bullying, “retaliation and outright discrimination” from UCI Provost Hal Stern and leaders across his units – including the former School of Education dean, the former assistant dean, and various faculty members within the Office of Academic Personnel, including the Vice Provost.

On April 29, Contreras filed a formal grievance complaint through UCI’s Whistleblower Office.

“I was repeatedly met with inaction, retaliation and resistance, ultimately leading to my unjustified removal from the deanship,” Contreras said in an interview. She called the move a “further attempt to silence” and harm her reputation.

Contreras said she raised “legitimate concerns about serious misconduct and potential violations of law and policy,” referring to “deeply troubling incidents” at UCI that caused her to request immediate action from university leadership – incidents she said were then further enabled and ignored.

In her formal complaint, Contreras alleges that UCI retaliated against her for reporting “numerous violations of law, university policy and ethics” by School of Education personnel and former faculty. She alleged specific incidents, such as in late 2023, when she learned that a faculty member experiencing a mental health crisis reportedly “purchased and housed firearms on the UCI campus,” stayed on campus, and “behaved erratically” following news that she would be terminated. Contreras – then the education dean – said this was “in reckless disregard” of school safety.   

The complaint also alleged the school’s reported failure to conduct an audit of a $3 million donor gift, after Contreras said she discovered that $225,000 of the grant was allocated to an outside organization “for administrative support.” Repeated requests for an audit were, she said, “flatly refused.” Another alleged incident was experiencing abusive conduct and intimidation from a fellow professor/former School of Education dean, which Contreras reported but “the university failed to fully investigate, and refused to interview witnesses.” That alleged faculty member, whom she named an abuser, had “publicly declared he would destroy Contreras,” the complaint said.

She also alleged threats to her personal safety and that of other school members, computer fraud and abuse, misuse of university funds, differential treatment and “clear diminution of power and authority” as School of Education dean compared with her predecessor.

She claimed conflicts of interest within the Office of Academic Personnel, where she was reporting her concerns – all of which, her complaint said, were ignored or “met with open hostility.” One former faculty member allegedly blocked Contreras’ access to the School of Education’s electronic folders, and instructed staff to restrict her from accessing the school’s listservs.

Contreras called it “a culture of retaliation and silencing” those like herself who spoke out “about serious misconduct” and violations of UC, state and federal policies. She said that there was a “complete refusal” to investigate her alleged concerns by campus management who, rather than “taking accountability and appropriate corrective measures,” instead “enabled misconduct by shielding unethical actors, ignoring potential violations of law and policy.”

In late 2024, a “climate assessment” was begun “in an effort to remove Contreras,” which was “clear pretext for UCI’s retaliatory and unjustifiable removal,” the formal complaint said.

Contreras was “abruptly” terminated from her deanship on March 31, denied a five-year review process, and experienced a substantial salary decrease, the complaint said.

“The timing of her removal, which came shortly after she called for a thorough and impartial investigation into her complaints, illustrates the retaliatory nature of her removal,” the complaint said. “The individuals who made the decision to remove Dr. Contreras from her deanship were the same individuals whose improper conduct Dr. Contreras reported.”

In a statement, UCI officials said they “would not comment on individual personnel matters,” but “takes all concerns seriously.”

UC Irvine is “committed to providing a respectful and inclusive environment, free from discrimination, intimidation, or retaliation,” the statement continued. “Allegations involving university policy or state and federal law are reviewed through established procedures and addressed in accordance with applicable policies and legal requirements.”

Internal formal reviews are part of the UC employee dismissal process, according to UC policy, and employees may file a complaint.

According to UC policy, deans are appointed for a normal five-year period and are subject to reappointment, made on a five-year basis. The UC chancellor may also consider a salary increase after a five-year review results in a recommendation to reappoint the dean, identifying “significant achievements and/or sustained excellent administrative performance.”

Contreras, a first-generation Latina college student from Norwalk, said that equity for underrepresented communities was the crux of her work in education. Being a leader in education carries with it a responsibility “to speak out (and) stand up against bullying and intimidation.”

“Being a leader fearful of speaking truth to power is not leadership,” she said.

Prior to her post as dean, Contreras served as the associate vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, and as a professor of education studies at UC San Diego, where she has more than 15 years of administrative leadership experience. She helped to launch a Latinx academic experience program and spearheaded UCSD’s efforts to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution. She also served as a co-chair and founder of the Chicano/Latino Advisory Council to the UC President.

Outside of the UC, Conteras worked at the University of Washington’s College of Education, where she led higher education programs and researched learning opportunities for Latino students.

At the time of her appointment in 2021, UCI officials – including Stern and Chancellor Howard Gillman – called Contreras “perfectly aligned with the strengths and far-reaching impact of the school,” and “an accomplished administrator with a record of driving equity and diversity.”

In late December, the school honored her on its social media pages for “her unwavering advocacy for equity and diversity, making an impact that inspires communities near and far.”

“I saw this role as an opportunity to utilize my background and skills to support the faculty and students as well as to serve as a leader and mentor in a field where Latina academics and leaders remain dramatically underrepresented,” Contreras, who remains a faculty member at UCI, said.

A number of Latino civil rights organizations, UCI faculty and alumni backed Contreras in her quest for an internal review under UC policy.

Tonia Reyes Uranga, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council #3309, wrote in a letter of support that she was “concerned that speaking out about violations is not seen as an exercise in free speech by UC Irvine.”

Latinx faculty and alumni groups within the UC system also demanded swift answers from management.

In a March 31 group letter,  a group of Latinx professors – hailing from UC Santa Cruz, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Merced and UC San Diego – agreed that “without prejudging the merits of the case, we think there are enough red flags to require an immediate formal independent investigation.”

Neptaly Taty Aguilera, co-chair of the UC Chicanx Latinx Alumni Association, recommended that Latinx representation be part of any formal review process. She recognized Contreras for her leadership and academic excellence, especially in uplifting the Latino community.

“We want to ensure that the UC system is transparent regarding how Latino students, faculty, leadership and alumni are treated,” Aguilera wrote in her letter to the UC Board of Regents and UCI leadership.

Jose F. Moreno, president of Los Amigos of Orange County, which has many active UCI alumni, said he was “proud and thrilled” when Contreras was named the dean of the School of Education. He called for a full, independent investigation so that Contreras’ “willingness to raise her voice to bring attention to these disturbing acts will not be cause for retaliation or isolation against her.”

Moving forward, as she awaits a response from the UC, Contreras is confident in her quest for justice that “the truth will come to light.”

But she also worried about the “broader efforts of this injustice on other women and leaders of color who choose to stand up when confronted with wrongdoing… I fear that UCI’s retaliation may have a chilling effect.”

She connected her experience with the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to end “DEI” initiatives in public schools, saying she was “disheartened” by the “vigorous attacks on DEI and concerted efforts to roll back progress for underrepresented groups.” She said these actions will have “devastating reverberations in all corners of society.”

Women of color in academia have been “targets of some of the most egregious attacks” – especially women leaders seen as a threat to “longstanding power imbalances and structural inequalities,” Contreras said.

“We see pervasive attacks against women who write about structural oppression, who challenge systemic power dynamics, and who battle against having their identities and contributions erased from history,” she continued. “The next generation of women and scholars of color are watching with hope and anticipation that we use our voices to advocate for their rights and a place in the academy and positions of leadership.”

Karim, president of CSUF’s Lebanese Student Association, said she didn’t have many Arab friends growing up. She often felt like she “wasn’t Arab enough” but also “not American enough.”

“I wouldn’t have had the same college experience without my SWANA family,” Karim, 21, said. “There’s that natural understanding of what it means to be from the Middle East.”

Cal State Fullerton is one of dozens of universities across Southern California that, at the end of each school year, host cultural graduation celebrations and affinity ceremonies recognizing student diversity and achievement. While not part of the larger school graduations, voluntary special events like the Chicano/Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, African/Black, Indigenous, Lavender LGBTQ+ graduations and more are open to all eligible college graduates wishing to honor their culture and community.

But many schools nationwide are grappling with what to do amid the Trump administration’s push to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within higher education. Early on in his presidency, Trump ordered schools to end DEI programs or lose federal funding, fearing these programs exclude or differentiate students based on race.

A Feb. 14 Department of Education letter, signed by Craig Trainor, the department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, directed colleges to distance themselves from DEI. It cited a 2023 Supreme Court decision that outlawed the use of racial preferences in college admissions, which also applied to things like hiring, scholarships and graduation ceremonies.

“Many American schools and universities even encourage segregation by race at graduation ceremonies and in dormitories and other facilities,” the letter read, calling this a “shameful echo of a darker period in this country’s history.”

Trump’s anti-DEI campaign in education, currently stalled in the courts, has brought a new focus on these annual cultural graduations — which organizers and students said have long been seen as a way of recognizing identity, accomplishments, and uplifting underrepresented students.

Which is why students like Karim feel these celebrations are needed. She called them “critical.”

It’s “a push for representation; a way to say that we’re here, and we’re people, and we deserve the same rights as everyone,” the Orange resident said. “Diversity and representation is important. It’s a big priority for me to show up for everyone and be there for our community.”

Karim said this year’s SWANA ceremony — one of a handful of cultural recognitions hosted at Cal State Fullerton — affected her “in a way the regular commencement ceremony will not.”

“Cultural understanding and community makes you feel less alone, especially in times of hardship,” she added. “America is built on immigrants.”

Royel M. Johnson, a USC professor, researcher, and the director of the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates, said it was important “to remind colleges and universities why these ceremonies and spaces were created in the first place: because underrepresented students have long felt invisible or unwelcome in traditional campus celebrations, which are often normed around dominant cultural values.”

“These are not divisive events—they are affirming, necessary counter-spaces that validate students’ identities and honor their unique journeys,” Johnson said. “Canceling them now, especially under political pressure, is disingenuous and signals a troubling retreat from institutional commitments that have been long-standing and previously celebrated.”

Johnson called it a “full-on assault on DEI in education” from the Trump administration.

“The chilling effect is real. Colleges are scrambling to assess legal risk, DEI staff are being laid off, and programs—especially those explicitly serving racially or gender minoritized students—have been dismantled,” he continued. “These ceremonies are powerful affirmations. For many students, graduation is not just a personal academic milestone—it’s a communal victory. Affinity graduations create intentional space to celebrate with cultural pride, to honor the unique challenges students have navigated, and to be seen on their own terms.”

USC education and public policy professor Shaun Harper, founder of the university’s Race and Equity Center, said it’s clear that lawmakers “who baselessly argue that celebrations for diverse college graduates are somehow hateful have never attended one of those events. Those ceremonies are the antithesis of divisiveness. Nothing about them is discriminatory, definitely not illegal… these are beautiful cultural celebrations that white and straight members of the campus community often happily attend. They’re welcomed, in fact.”

Harper noted that special ceremonies, such as USC’s May 14 commencement hosted by the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs and the Black Alumni Association, are a chance for Black students to “finally get the opportunity to not be the lone persons from their racial group in a space on campus.”

“For just a few joyous hours at the very end of their college journeys,” he said, “(students) and their tuition-paying Black families deserve the chance to celebrate the survival of four years of such cruel underrepresentation.”

USC hosted several identity-based celebrations on May 14 and 15, including an Asian Pacific American, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ commencement.

Wearing a bright blue, red and yellow stole and an embroidered flag, graduating senior Abbe Pingol, who majored in pharmacology and drug development, was proud to represent USC’s Filipino club, Troy Philippines, at the APA ceremony and at USC’s main commencement at the L.A. Coliseum. The San Jose native is the first to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in his family.

“It’s something I’m very proud to show off, that I’m Filipino and very passionate about my culture,” Pingol said. “The novelty of having an Asian Pacific grad is really powerful; seeing a specific denomination walking together shows these communities exist. It’s a statement. It reminds me that we might be a small community, but we’re really loud. We’re not the majority — and that’s great. I love showing there are other cultures that (are) represented and should be seen, especially at a huge institution like USC.”

If DEI programs were cut or restricted in the future, Pingol said that students “should not back down.” Ethnic celebrations “show how far these different groups have gone, and how much we’ve achieved.”

“I genuinely don’t understand why certain people are threatened by diversity,” he said. “We’re here, and we gotta celebrate that.”

A celebratory tradition

True to the celebration, many of these open graduation events are organized by student groups and include cultural elements, from colorful live performances to keynote speeches emphasizing diaspora pride. The often ticketed, private events usually involve fees used for entertainment — such as folklórico dancers or a live mariachi band at a Latinx student graduation — or grad memorabilia, such as symbolic lei, stoles, or native flags. Degrees aren’t given out during the ceremonies, but organizers called them a special way to celebrate graduates’ identities outside of their education.

Cal State Long Beach spokesperson Jim Milbury said they are “powerful affirmations” of students’ achievements. The university celebrated nine cultural graduations honoring different Asian communities, as well as Latinx, Black, Native American and LGBTQ+ graduates, this year.

“Our students have reached an incredible milestone, and they deserve a celebration that honors not only their academic success but also the cultural journeys that shaped them,” Milbury said in a statement. “These intentional, meaningful events open to all students offer families and communities the chance to witness and share in their accomplishments.”

Chapman University, which faced student backlash in spring after placing two top DEI administrators on leave, did not plan any official cultural graduation events, spokesperson Jeffrey Howard said. But students organized at least two cultural celebrations for Latinx and Black students, funded by Chapman’s student government association, in mid-May.

Pomona College and Scripps College, both part of the Claremont Colleges, planned ticketed graduation ceremonies for Black, Latinx, and interfaith students on May 16.

Other Cal State schools, including Cal State L.A., Dominguez Hills, Northridge and Cal Poly Pomona hosted their affinity celebrations as graduation season kicked off in May, celebrating its Indigenous, Asian American, Black, LGBTQ+, formerly incarcerated and undocumented student groups.

Cal State San Bernardino hosted several cultural ceremonies at the end of the school year, including the Latinx and Black graduations on May 10.

Ralph Figueroa attended both the veteran and Latinx graduation events at CSUSB on May 10. The Army veteran is earning his Master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling, with dreams of becoming a certified rehab counselor. He saw the school’s bilingual Latinx ceremony — which this year landed on May 10, Mexican Mother’s Day — as a way to show that “Latinos can do anything they put their mind to.”

Figueroa lost his mother in 2019 before he was able to obtain his degrees. He said he felt her presence at the celebration and during commencement, where he proudly wore his multicolored stole.

“It was beautiful to hear the (students’) thank you’s in Spanish, and very emotional,” Figueroa, 48, said.

With many Cal State schools facing budget uncertainties, Figueroa noted that added pressure from the Trump administration could lead to diverse, vulnerable student programs falling through the cracks, and that he supports DEI efforts as both a veteran and a Latino.

“I worry the most for undocumented students, because a lot of this administration’s changes are going to affect them and their families directly,” he said. “I can’t imagine how scary it feels to say out loud that you’re undocumented during this time. It’s important to support and rally around each other.”

He feels it’s important to support diversity, equity and inclusion programming and efforts to enhance the lives of everyone.

“In order for us to find equitable value in our society, we have to address components of DEI,” he said. “Native people were here first — so technically, we’re all immigrants.”

University of California schools and students were also preparing for upcoming graduation events in June.

UC Riverside’s Chicano Student Programs will host the annual Chicano Latino Year-End Celebration, previously called “Raza Grad,” on June 8. The ceremony aims to “celebrate students’ personal success and academic achievements in the spirit and traditions of the Chicano/Latino culture,” organizers said, ahead of the main graduations in mid-June.

UC Irvine students have been organizing cultural celebrations for graduating seniors since the 1970s, said spokesperson Tom Vasich.

The annual Nuestra Graduación celebration on June 12 will showcase Latinx culture, with performances from UCI student mariachi and ballet folklórico groups. Mariachi Orguello de UCI is the first official student-led mariachi, in its first year. Graduates wear serape-inspired stoles, and family members are also allowed to walk the stage, highlighting the importance of family in Latinx culture.

Susana Gonzalez Ochoa, the communications co-chair, said that 375 graduates were being honored at Nuestra Graduación. It marked a record 600+ applications to participate in the celebration, Gonzalez Ochoa said.

Gonzalez Ochoa, who lives in Buena Park, is graduating this year with a bachelor’s degree in history and sociology. The cultural celebrations, she said, properly “reflect the population and culture.”

“Since it’s ran by students, we also have the students in mind,” the 22-year-old said. “These are about adding the celebration to the graduation. It reflects who the students are and what they believe in.”

Darlene Sanzon, a senior art major and music industry minor at UCLA, is excited to bring her parents to her school’s 52nd annual Latinx celebration on campus on June 15. The first-generation college student — and youngest woman to graduate — said the event being bilingual is what appeals to her most about the ceremony, and that she loves the cultural aspects.

It’s about “my parents being able to understand my graduation,” Sanzon said. “It’s a plus that my family will be able to enjoy and understand, and to be able to graduate with those who are also first gen and (who) have dealt with being a minority within this huge UC system.”

Representation “especially in this current political climate,” along with fighting lower graduation rates among the Latinx community, is Sanzon’s biggest motivator.

“It pushes me to work harder, make my voice present against stereotypes; to take up as much space as I can,” the Baldwin Park resident said. “To rejoice in this huge accomplishment, and set an example for my cousins. I’m looking forward for my parents to see all their sacrifices were worth it — this is honestly for them.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), whose offices are based in Anaheim, hosted its first-ever Global Muslim Village Cultural Festival on Saturday at the Indonesian Consulate in Los Angeles.

The multicultural event in Los Angeles brought together Muslims from across Southern California to celebrate their diversity and economic contributions, looking forward to what’s next.

The festival featured over 70 global marketplace vendors, halal food stalls, consulate and community booths representing cultures from around the Muslim world, organizers said. Attendees spoke languages from Arabic and Pashto, to Malay, Indonesian and Urdu. Cultural performances, demonstrations and a business expo showcased Muslim talent and Muslim-owned businesses.

Younger CAIR-LA members and students also joined those across the state in late April for the first part of Muslim Day at the Capitol, where they traveled to Sacramento to meet with legislators and advocate for key policies affecting their community, including ethnic studies and demographic inclusion. They will return on May 12 for Advocacy Day.

Organizers hope to bring back the Global Muslim Village and Business Expo annually, dedicated to empowering the Muslim community by showcasing businesses, entrepreneurs and organizations from around the world.