Business, Labor, faith, and philanthropy leaders stand together, condemn the raids, and call for meaningful reform
As civic leaders representing business, Labor, faith, and philanthropy from across Los Angeles, we are deeply concerned by the uncertainty and disruption resulting from the military-style immigration enforcement actions taking place in our region. The consequences of these operations are being felt in workplaces, storefronts, and neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles.
Los Angeles thrives because people from all over the world bring their talent, energy, and ingenuity here to become workers, customers, business owners, and community leaders. From health care to hospitality, agriculture to construction, retail to logistics, immigrants, including those without citizenship or official residency, power every major sector of California’s economy.
The Bay Area Council Economic Institute found that California’s undocumented workers:
Generate nearly 9% of California’s annual GDP - $230 billion each year
Contribute more than $23 billion in local, state and federal taxes annually
Make up more than a quarter of California’s agricultural and construction workforces
When federal immigration enforcement is conducted in a disorderly manner, using unnecessarily aggressive tactics that some courts have recently deemed illegal, the ripple effects are devastating. Children lose caregivers. Tenants fall behind on rent. Entire neighborhoods grow fearful of basic activities like going to school, reporting a crime, or showing up to work. These raids do not make us safer. They do not uphold the law. And they directly contradict the values and the will of the majority of Americans, who overwhelmingly support fair, humane, and practical immigration policies.
It is abundantly clear that these chaotic enforcement actions disrupt our economy to an intolerable degree. We hear directly from businesses about the real and immediate impacts: workers who (no matter their citizenship status) are afraid to show up to their jobs, teams running short-staffed, customers avoiding public places out of fear, and small businesses facing catastrophic drops in revenue. These enforcement tactics are directly undermining our region's economic well-being.
Reasonable minds can differ about what our federal immigration priorities ought to be, but when employees feel unsafe, customers stay home, families are disrupted, and uncertainty replaces stability, everyone suffers—regardless of immigration status.
Our nation needs policies that recognize both our labor and talent needs with clear pathways to legal status and citizenship. We need laws that are practical and possible for people to follow, and that are aligned with what Americans want from our immigration system. A March poll commissioned by the California Community Foundation found 82% of California voters, regardless of their political party, support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
This is not a time for fearmongering; it is a time for leadership. We urge federal officials to insist on oversight and accountability from all federal immigration enforcement agencies, publicly condemn unlawful or unconstitutional enforcement actions that harm children and families, devastate local businesses, and destabilize communities, and pursue the long-overdue solution this nation needs: comprehensive immigration reform that balances public safety with human dignity and economic strength.
We stand together in calling for solutions that ensure stability, prosperity, and respect for all who contribute to the success of our city.
Maria Salinas, LA Area Chamber
Mary Leslie, LA Business Council
Nella McOsker, Central City Association of Los Angeles
Martin Muoto, SOLA Impact
Eddie Navarrette, Independent Hospitality Coalition
Malcolm Johnson, Langon Park Capital
Karim Webb, Webb Investments
Jim Mangia, St. John's Community Health
Alysia Bell, UNITE-LA
David Huerta, SEIU United Service Workers West
Ernesto Medrano, Los Angeles–Orange Counties Building & Construction Trades Council
Yvonne Wheeler, LA County Federation of Labor
Archbishop Jose Gomez, Archdiocese of LA
Melissa Balaban, IKAR Jewish Community of Los Angeles
Christine Essel, SoCal Grantmakers
Chet Hewitt, The Center at Sierra Health Foundation
Don Howard, The James Irvine Foundation
Fred Blackwell, San Francisco Foundation
Julian Castro, Latino Community Foundation
Joanna Jackson, Weingart Foundation
Richard Tate, California Wellness Foundation
Miguel Santana, California Community Foundation
