In Los Angeles, the holidays are supposed to be a time of reunion, families cooking together, kids out of school, lights going up on apartment balconies and front porches.
But for many immigrant families, this season also brings something harder to talk about, the constant fear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can show up at any time and take someone away.
While some people might assume enforcement slows down during the holidays, community reports and local journalism tell a completely different story.
Across Los Angeles County, ICE continues to detain people from our neighborhoods, including parents, workers, students, and longtime residents who have built their lives here. For them, the “season of joy” comes with a layer of anxiety that most of the city never has to notice or experience.
In the middle of this, L.A. TACO, an independent local news outlet, has been doing crucial work.
Daily stories, social media updates, and photo essays, their reporters have been documenting how immigration enforcement plays out on the ground in Los Angeles.
They’ve covered everything from ICE pick‑ups outside courthouses and workplaces to the way detention affects families emotionally and financially.
For many Angelenos, especially younger readers and those from immigrant communities, L.A. TACO has become a trusted source of information about what is really happening beyond official statements and press releases.
Their coverage often highlights the voices of people most directly affected, family members waiting for loved ones to call from detention, neighbors who watched an arrest happen, and organizers trying to respond in real time.
The timing makes this all feel especially harsh right now. During the holidays, a single detention can mean an empty seat at the dinner table, a child suddenly missing a parent, or a family scrambling to pay rent without the main provider.
The trauma doesn’t end when the raid is over it lingers in the form of fear, silence, and uncertainty.
For students at Cerritos College and other campuses across the region, this isn’t an abstract policy debate. Many of us have classmates, friends, or relatives who are undocumented or come from mixed‑status families.
Some drive to school carefully, about every turn they make. Others work late into the night at jobs where enforcement is always a possibility.
While we study for finals or plan winter breaks, they are also quietly planning backup plans who will pick up the kids, where important documents are, who to call if something happens.
News publications like L.A TACO and LA Public Press matter because they refuse to let these stories disappear through reporting.
By putting names, faces, and streets to what could otherwise be just “immigration news,” they remind us that this is a human issue, not just a legal one.
Their work also shows how local journalism can fill gaps left by larger outlets that may only cover immigration in big national moments, not in the everyday reality of raids, detentions, and court dates.
As Los Angeles puts on its festive image, another truth exists alongside of this city, families are spending this holiday season wondering if it will be their last one together.
Paying attention to local reporting, supporting community‑based newsrooms, and listening to the people directly impacted is one small way we can refuse to look away.
In a city that loves to call itself a “sanctuary,” we have to decide what that really means, especially when the holidays come, and ICE is still knocking on our neighbors doors.
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