Barger cheers FEMA funds for Eaton Fire caseworkers
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger (R-Palmdale, Lancaster, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge) yesterday welcomed new federal funding that keeps caseworkers helping Eaton Fire survivors with housing, insurance and rebuilding, after FEMA released money for a program set to run out at the end of September.
FEMA announced $11 million in Disaster Case Management funding, including more than $6.6 million for over 3,000 survivors of the 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires. That brings the program’s total for the fires to nearly $10 million, FEMA says. The state-managed, FEMA-funded program pairs survivors with case managers who build recovery plans and connect them to assistance.
“I welcome FEMA’s approval of additional funding for disaster case management for Los Angeles County. Once received, this funding will allow thousands of Eaton Fire survivors to continue receiving the personalized support they need as they navigate the complicated road to recovery,” said Barger.
Barger thanked the Trump administration and FEMA, and urged that the money reach local providers as soon as possible. On Tuesday, she said the program was carrying nearly 1,400 active cases across the county’s wildfire-impacted communities, more than 1,000 of them Eaton Fire survivors, with about 700 more families on a waiting list.
Bass signs law keeping ICE off city property
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an ordinance this week codifying key parts of her Executive Directive 17, barring federal immigration agents from using city property to stage enforcement operations.
Bass issued the directive in February. Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson (D-South Los Angeles) introduced a motion to write it into city code, seconded by Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez (D-Hollywood), Eunisses Hernandez (D-Highland Park), Ysabel Jurado (D-Boyle Heights), Curren Price (D-Watts) and Bob Blumenfield (D-Canoga Park). The council adopted the motion unanimously and approved the final ordinance this week.
“The immigration raids may have left our daily headlines, but they haven’t stopped. We cannot let our guard down. We have to keep working with our immigrant rights organizations, we have to keep supporting families, and we have to keep finding every legal tool available to protect our communities,” said Bass.
The ordinance requires signs at city-owned lots and open spaces stating that immigration agents may not use the property for staging, processing or operations. City departments must physically secure their sites to keep federal agents out of non-public areas. City contractors and bidders must disclose any data sharing agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
“This law makes clear that those principles are not temporary — they are part of how Los Angeles operates,” said Bass.
Pérez private immigration detention oversight bill gets signed
State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena, Alhambra, Altadena, Glendale, Arcadia, Monrovia) secured Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s signature on a bill to bring state oversight to privately operated immigration detention facilities in California.
SB 957, the Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Detainees Model Act, requires the state, under the Attorney General’s direction, to identify the most effective ways to oversee the facilities. Pérez said inhumane treatment has been documented inside them.
“No human should have to endure eating moldy food, drinking dirty water or being denied medical care,” said Pérez.
The bill followed the defeat of Pérez’s SB 995, the Masuma Khan Justice Act, which died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. That bill was named for Masuma Khan, a longtime Altadena resident and Eaton Fire survivor with no criminal history. Pérez said Khan was detained by federal immigration agents and denied warm clothing, proper food and medication.
“My work is rooted in the simple principle that if detention centers operate in California, they must meet California’s health and safety standards,” said Pérez.
Hochman’s office wins $1.5 million for Catalina wage theft victims
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced $1.5 million in back pay for dozens of Catalina Island hotel and restaurant workers after an Avalon business owner delivered the check at her Sept. 28 sentencing.
A judge ordered Yueh Mei Tucey, also known as Nora Tucey, to pay the wages owed to employees who worked at her hotels and restaurants between 2008 and 2022, plus $96,000 to the California Employment Development Department for underreporting wages. Tucey pleaded no contest in September 2025 to seven felony counts of filing false and fraudulent returns, six felony counts of failure to pay taxes and one felony count of conspiracy to commit wage theft.
“This case resulted in not just a conviction, but economic justice for the victims, many of whom have been waiting nearly two decades to be paid the wages they are owed for their hard work,” said Hochman.
A Labor Commissioner’s Office investigation found that Tucey used payroll aliases to hide overtime and had employees work at several of her businesses in the same day, producing workdays of up to 18 hours. Many workers also rented housing from Tucey and had to move out if their jobs ended. Many of the victims were immigrants.
California Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower said the case began with a worker’s call to her office’s public information line. Thai Community Development Center and Bet Tzedek Legal Services represented the victims.
Deputy District Attorney Alice Kurs of the Consumer Protection Division’s Economic and Labor Justice Unit prosecuted the case.
