immigrants in, ice out
Los Angeles is home to nearly 1.5 million immigrants — more than 1 in 3 Angelenos. Since June of last year, ordinary people have been terrorized across the city. Masked agents, with badges concealed, are snatching working Angelenos off our streets and disappearing them into detention for months without charges, without lawyers, and without due process. No one in Los Angeles should be afraid to go to work or drop their kids off at school. Los Angeles should be the strongest sanctuary city in the country. And protecting Angelenos from federal intimidation is just the start. We also owe them a city whose systems and policies are actively designed to work for them, instead of leaving families to figure it out on their own.
Protect every Angeleno from federal intimidation
The problem
Since June 2025, masked ICE agents have terrorized our immigrant communities. Federal raids have left Angelenos afraid to live in the city they call home — where they work and raise their families. Federal agents are raiding workplaces, detaining parents on their way to drop their kids at school, and staging operations out of city-owned parking lots. That has to stop. Nithya will fight back against the federal government's assault on our communities.
Our plan
Appoint an LAPD Chief unequivocally committed to protecting immigrants and upholding our sanctuary city protections. Chief McDonnell has lost the confidence of Angelenos on the issue of immigration. Los Angeles needs a police chief who stands with Angelenos against federal intimidation and rebuilds community trust in LAPD.
Ensure LAPD does not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. Many residents do not trust that LAPD is not cooperating with ICE. We will conduct a transparent audit of department practices to identify and close any gaps between the Sanctuary City Ordinance and how the department actually operates. LAPD's job is keeping Angelenos safe, not assisting ICE. Any engagement with federal law enforcement must serve that mission and comply with all state and local laws designed to protect our immigrant communities.
Expand funding for deportation defense. Immigrants with legal representation are far more likely to win their cases than those without. The city should do everything it can to make sure no Angeleno faces deportation alone by expanding its investment in the RepresentLA program, rather than shrinking it as it has in recent years.
Codify and expand the ban on ICE operations on city property, and require all city contractors to certify they have no agreements with any federal agencies involved in immigration enforcement.
Ensure that no city data is ever used for federal immigration enforcement, including license plate readers and third party surveillance systems. Our Sanctuary City Ordinance explicitly bans this kind of data sharing: the city’s policies and practices must be audited and the ordinance must be upheld.
Work with the City Attorney to challenge unconstitutional actions by federal agents and ICE and hold federal agents accountable when they break the law.
Support immigrant entrepreneurs and street vendors
The problem
Immigrant-owned businesses are central to what makes Los Angeles vibrant, and street vendors are an essential part of our local economy. Still, many immigrant entrepreneurs face real barriers in navigating the city's systems. Permitting is confusing, credit is hard to access, and the path from informal work to small business ownership is harder than it needs to be.
Our plan
Create a City of Los Angeles Immigrant Economic Opportunity Hub: a single coordinated center offering permitting support, microloans, legal guidance, and workforce development with a clear pathway from informal work to full business ownership.
Invest in providing access to shared commercial kitchens across our neighborhoods, streamline vendor permitting through a one-stop system, subsidize compliant carts and equipment, and ensure that the city is actively working with the County to ensure alignment across systems and resources.
Create a Loan Guarantee Pool in partnership with community lenders and philanthropic organizations, making affordable capital accessible to immigrant entrepreneurs who lack traditional credit.
Invest in immigrant worker-owned cooperatives by expanding the work of the Worksource Centers, providing outreach, technical assistance, and long-term support to build lasting economic power.
City services that work for immigrants
The problem
Los Angeles has always been an immigrant city, but our systems are riddled with language barriers, documentation requirements, and bureaucracy that was never designed with immigrant communities in mind.
Our plan
Expand and fully staff the Office of Immigrant Affairs, giving it a new mandate that is core to city services and infrastructure.
Ensure that the city, led by the Mayor’s Office, becomes a backbone for support and response to ICE’s actions. Many community organizations across the city have raised funding and organized neighbors to respond to these raids. The city should build a vetted, trusted immigrant resources hub so anyone can find services they can actually rely on. This hub can also act as a clearinghouse for city and philanthropic funding, to ensure that resources get to organizations that are doing the work on the ground, but may not have access to adequate resources.
Create an emergency utility fee waiver for families impacted by federal raids. No family should lose their water or electricity while navigating the devastation of a loved one's detention.
Make sure city resources can be accessed by all city residents. Mandate acceptance of consular IDs, foreign passports, and ITINs across all city departments for program eligibility criteria.
Provide Know Your Rights training in 15 or more languages at libraries, schools, and houses of worship.