Day laborers who are helping families rebuild in the Eaton Fire zones are scared to go to work, fearing to encounter federal immigration agents, community organizers and wildfire survivors said Friday.
Advocacy groups, including the Pasadena Community Job Center and National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said immigration enforcement is holding back the rebuilding work, causing panic among thousands of day laborers.
Standing in front of an Altadena home that was burned down in the 2025 wildfire, Jose Madera, director for the Pasadena Community Job Center, said the construction process has been delayed as workers are afraid that they may be targeted in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
“These ICE raids, this hate and terror into our community. Masked men, armed, in unmarked cars are coming into our community. That’s halting the recovery. That’s halting the rebuilding. That’s halting families to come back to their community,”
Pablo Alvarado from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network added it is “irrefutable” that LA will not be able to rebuild without immigrant workers.
“This is the hypocrisy that is challenging every day. Our country’s willing to accept migrant labor. But our country’s not willing to accept our humanity and give us our rights, and yet we keep showing up because we believe in what is right,” Alvarado said.
The owner of the destroyed home also agreed with the immigrant organizations, saying that her home has become a place of gathering for the community and a safe place for immigrant workers.
“The people here supported this community as day laborers. And they’re not being supported by the community,” Leigh Adams, the homeowners, said.
It’s not just the actual construction of homes. According to Madera, the soil that has been contaminated by toxic particulates in the wildfire needs to be safely removed, so it’ll be safe for people to move back – with the help from migrant workers.
“That’s why workers from the Pasadena Community Job Center, along with community members and organizations are here to do bioremediation of the dirt, so when it’s time to rebuild, workers are safe here doing it. Also, when the family is back here, they are safe and sound,” Madera said.
The organizations demanded all immigration operations be stopped in all fire zones across Los Angeles County.
NBC Los Angeles reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment and was not able to independently confirm whether immigration enforcement operations took place in the Altadena area.
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