California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has indicated that the construction efforts for victims of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires are being negatively impacted by deportations and raids in Los Angeles.
As deportations ramped up in the summer of 2024 due to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, Newsom addressed the issue in a conversation with MS Now’s Jacob Soboroff. He was questioned about the increased activity of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and its influence on recovery efforts following the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles County.
“The entire construction sector is feeling this strain. California, Texas, and other states are dealing with a labor shortage—around 35 to 41 percent of the workforce in these areas comprises immigrants,” Newsom explained. “These tariffs are hitting us directly.”
California has an estimated 2 million undocumented immigrants, and sanctuary laws restrict local law enforcement from cooperating with federal agencies like ICE and CBP, as noted by Pacific Research.
In February 2025, an analysis by Urban Wire revealed that immigrants constituted over 23% of the construction workforce in 2023, with a significant portion being undocumented. The study reported that California has more than 1.1 million construction workers who are either legal or illegal immigrants, making up about 37% to 39% of the state’s construction jobs.
Newsom highlighted the permits approved in Altadena and claimed that both “immigration policy and customs policy” are affecting recovery speed. He seemed to strike an optimistic tone, noting, “When you compare it to other disasters, like the Camp Fire in Paradise which wiped out 14,000 homes—back then we only had 385 permits after a year. Altadena has now more than 24 permits and nearly 2,500 total. We’re not fully satisfied yet, but at least there’s some progress.”
Although Newsom and Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass want to convey optimism about rebuilding the over 16,000 homes evacuated during the Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires, only under 4% of construction has actually begun. Many residents have expressed frustrations toward both state and local officials due to bureaucratic delays, insurance challenges, and high permit costs.
In June 2024, significant protests erupted in downtown Los Angeles against ICE’s mass deportation efforts, resulting in millions of dollars in damages, destruction of federal property, and vandalism of law enforcement vehicles.
