Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Newsom Finds A New Culprit For Slow Fire Recovery: Deportations

Newsom on MS NOW discussing fire recovery [Screenshot/MS NOW]

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed that construction for Pacific Palisades and Altadena fire victims has been impacted by deportations and raids in Los Angeles.

Raids and deportations in California ramped up over the summer of 2024 under the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal migrants in the state. In an exclusive interview with MS Now’s Jacob Soboroff, Newsom was asked whether the increase in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) activity has affected recovery efforts following the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles County.

“I mean, it’s impacted the entire construction industry across the United States. A huge, a disproportionate, I mean, California, Texas, a few other states, up to 35 some cases estimated, 40, 41% of the workforce are immigrants. So you’ve got direct labor shortages,” Newsom said. “You’ve got direct impacts from these tariffs.”

“I mean, we could just talk about the tariff impacts and the retaliatory nature of what’s happening with our relationship to Canada and someone’s supplies that come from there. The direct impacts as it relates to those that have rebuilt,” Newsom added. “I want to remind folks, 2,500 permits have been approved within the first year.”

With its sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants, which limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal agencies such as ICE and CBP, California is estimated to have more than 2 million illegal immigrants, according to Pacific Research.

An analysis conducted by Urban Wire in February 2025 estimated that immigrants made up just over 23% of the construction workforce in 2023, with roughly half of that figure believed to be illegal immigrants. The analysis found that California had more than 1.1 million foreign-born construction workers, including both legal and illegal immigrants, representing roughly 37% to 39% of the state’s overall construction workforce.

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Newsom went on to tout the number of permits approved for Altadena, saying the pace of recovery has been impacted by both “immigration policy and tariff policy.”

“You see the sounds and noise of construction, a lot to be optimistic in terms of where we are. By the way, compared to other disasters, I mean, put it in perspective, 14,000 homes were destroyed in the Camp Fire in Paradise,” Newsom continued. “There were just 385 permits at this time. We have over 24, close to 2,500 permits today in Altadena, in Los Angeles County. We’re not happy with the rate of that, but we are pleased to see the progress.”

“Again, it’s meaningful, but it’s impacted the challenges, the headwinds of immigration policy and tariff policy are hurting the recovery and making it more costly,” Newsom said. “Let’s talk about when President Trump came to visit in January, it was his first trip as president right after the fires.”

Despite Newsom’s and Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ attempt at optimistic messaging about rebuilding more than 16,000 homes displaced by the Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires, fewer than 4% have begun construction. Residents have criticized both state and local officials over the slow pace of recovery, pointing to red tape, insurance hurdles and permit costs as major obstacles.

In June 2024, downtown Los Angeles saw large protests and riots against ICE operations tied to mass deportations. The unrest caused millions of dollars in damage, leaving federal buildings vandalized, Waymo vehicles set on fire and law enforcement vehicles damaged.