Bass, City Council fight goes on as county wins homeless role
LA Mayor Karen Bass, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson (D-South Los Angeles), and Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado (D-Boyle Heights), Tim McOsker (D-San Pedro) and Imelda Padilla (D-Van Nuys) saw the county win a key piece of the region’s homelessness system Tuesday, while their fight over who fills city-funded housing remains unresolved, the Westside Current reported.
In a 331-9 vote, the Los Angeles Continuum of Care chose the county’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing to replace LAHSA as the region’s lead applicant for federal homelessness grants and to run the annual homeless count. The Continuum of Care still must decide who will run the homeless data system and coordinated entry, the systems that help determine housing placements and the focus of the city’s objections.
“The City must be able to help the people on our own streets by placing them into the housing that we build and fund in order to solve the homelessness crisis,” said the mayor and councilmembers in a joint statement.
HSH Director Sarah Mahin said the decision protects the region’s ability to accept hundreds of millions of federal dollars that provide housing services to more than 11,000 people, and that the county is committed to a collaborative, regional system.
“We are stronger together,” said Mahin.
The county’s selection remains subject to the federal court case over LAHSA’s funding suspension. U.S. District Judge David Carter has set an Oct. 27 status conference on LAHSA, the Continuum of Care and transition plans, the same day a preliminary injunction protecting LAHSA’s access to federal funding is set to expire, according to the Westside Current. Continuum of Care board co-chair Ben Kay said naming a successor now would avoid a management gap if the injunction ends.
Pérez slams federal probe of Caltech visa program
State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena, Alhambra, Altadena, Glendale, Arcadia, Monrovia) blasted the Trump administration’s investigation of Caltech, one of nine universities Vice President JD Vance accused of abusing the J-1 visa program.
Vance announced the probe Thursday, naming Caltech, Stanford, UC Davis, Harvard, Yale, Brown, MIT, Arizona State and the University of Pittsburgh. The J-1 is an exchange visa that universities use to bring in postdoctoral researchers and visiting scholars. Vance said J-1 holders make up about 61% of researchers on federally funded projects at the nine schools, compared with 38% nationally, and accused universities of using the visas to undercut American researchers’ wages, according to KTLA.
The Labor Department’s inspector general is leading the investigation, and subpoenas have been served, Inside Higher Ed reported.
“It should not come as a surprise to the Vice President that a university like Caltech, which conducts world-renowned scientific research, should engage with the top scholars from across the world including scholars here in the United States. This is what makes Caltech the best in its field,” said Pérez.
Pérez noted that Caltech manages NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and has the highest number of Nobel laureates per capita in the nation. Several of the other universities named have said they comply with visa laws and will cooperate.
“This ridiculous federal investigation feels like another extension of the nationalism, bigotry and cruelty that is the currency of the Trump administration,” said Pérez.
Schiff presses Rubio to free Armenians held by Azerbaijan
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) led more than 100 members of Congress in urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to push Azerbaijan to release Armenian prisoners and withdraw its troops from Armenian territory.
The bipartisan letter, co-led by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), seeks the release of detainees including political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh held since Azerbaijan’s 2023 offensive in the region. It also calls for the removal of Azerbaijani forces from more than 200 square kilometers of Armenian territory, and asks the State Department to withhold military aid if Azerbaijan doesn’t cooperate. At least 19 Armenians remain held as prisoners of war, and 120,000 civilians were displaced, according to Schiff’s office.
“Azerbaijan’s decision to sentence the unlawfully detained Armenian prisoners of war demonstrates a willingness to upend stability,” wrote the lawmakers.
The issue resonates deeply in LA County, home to the largest Armenian population outside Armenia. More than 171,000 county residents speak Armenian at home, making it the county’s fourth most spoken language, according to a 2021 presentation to the county’s redistricting commission. This includes large concentrations of Armenians in Glendale, Burbank and the east San Fernando Valley.
Schiff, who led Congress’ formal recognition of the Armenian Genocide in 2019, has repeatedly pushed for the prisoners’ release.
“The United States has a critical role in ensuring that ongoing talks yield results that advance peace and security in the region,” wrote the lawmakers.
