California immigration clashes lead to $1 billion in losses
Source: USA Today
Updated Feb. 9, 2026, 7:39 p.m. ET
California officials say last summer's immigration raids and subsequent protests around Los Angeles ‒ some of which had turned violent ‒ cost more than $1 billion in lost productivity, sales and wages.
The new report commissioned by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors also found that businesses disclosed about $200,000 in losses from vandalism. In addition to widespread spraypainted graffiti, participants also lit multiple vehicles on fire, including at least one police SUV.
President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement sparked the protests in early June. These small-scale protests around federal facilities prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines, which then sparked even larger protests.
Trump campaigned on conducting the largest mass deportation in history, and immigration enforcers carrying out his orders last summer were captured on video chasing down suspected unauthorized immigrants at car washes and Home Depot parking lots. L.A.-area officials condemned the raids as unnecessary and unwanted in a community that has long welcomed immigrants as a vital part of the economy.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/09/los-angeles-immigration-raids-protests-losses/88596595007/
Link to L.A. County Board of Supervisors REPORT (PDF) - https://opportunity.lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/LAEDCxDEO-Economic-Impacts-of-Federal-Immigration-Enforcement.pdf
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