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Parsing through data until 4 am. Eyes glued to the Watch Duty app. Every minute, a new Slack notification. That’s what the immediate days were like for UCLA LPPI director of research Silvia R. González after the Pacific Palisades and Altadena wildfires broke out. Like many Angelenos, González watched the wildfires grow each hour on…

Charlita: Mariah Bonilla on Disparities Latinos Continue to Face in California

Latinos represent 40% of California’s population, driving economic and workforce growth. At the same time, Latinos in California face alarming gaps in earned income, homeownership, and insurance coverage compared to non-Latinos. We talked to Mariah Bonilla, project policy analyst at LPPI, who examined both sides of this narrative in a new report, State of Latinos…

Women’s History Month: Celebrating the Women on LPPI’s Staff

This Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating the team of formidable women who make LPPI’s work possible. In the roundtable below, several women on staff reflect on the adversities they overcame and the empowerment they found in their journeys to LPPI. Q: How has your identity as a woman of color impacted your academic and professional…

UCLA LPPI Statement on Allegations Against Cesar Chavez

“We are deeply troubled by the allegations reported this week regarding César Chávez. We at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) acknowledge the profound pain this moment brings to many in our communities, particularly to those who have long looked to the farmworker movement as a source of dignity, courage, and collective struggle….

Webinar on Documenting the Economic Harm of ICE Enforcement

On February 25, LPPI Director Dr. Amada Armenta joined a discussion on the importance of documenting the harm that immigration enforcement causes to local economies. She highlighted LPPI’s research on the impact of ICE raids to business corridors in Los Angeles. The webinar was hosted by the Bay Area Asset Funders Network and sponsored by…

Policy Fellows Learn from Telemundo’s Enrique Chiabra

On February 27, Telemundo 52 news anchor Enrique Chiabra spoke with LPPI policy fellows at the quarterly communications module. Chiabra has won 11 Emmy awards in his 10 years at Telemundo, alongside awards from GLAAD and the Latino Journalists of California. In his time as a sociology undergraduate at UCLA, Chiabra was president of the…

Why the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Deregulation is a Public Health Crisis in the Making

On February 12, 2026, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the Trump administration, finalized a significant rollback of the federal government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions by repealing the Endangerment Finding under the Clean Air Act, which has been in place since 2009.¹ The Endangerment Finding is a formal scientific determination that greenhouse…

Lecture Examines ICE Enforcement and Immigrant Rights

On February 5, the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute (LPPI), Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, and UCLA Asian American Studies Center co-hosted “Nation of Immigrants: The Politics of ICE Enforcement,” bringing together policymakers, researchers, advocates, and students for a timely discussion about immigration enforcement in California and across the country. Part of the Luskin Lecture…

LPPI’s 7th Annual Policy Briefing Convenes State Leaders

On January 27, LPPI leadership, fellows, and staff brought together legislative and community leaders for LPPI’s Annual Policy Briefing. The briefing, which was held at The California Endowment in Sacramento, was part of the institute’s Policy in Action Summit. LPPI Director Amada Armenta and Assemblymember Jose Luis Solache, Jr. opened the event with remarks on…

LPPI Fellows Bridge Research and Policy in Sacramento

At LPPI’s 2026 Policy in Action Summit, 16 Policy Fellows travelled to Sacramento to connect with those in the driver’s seat of change. On January 26, the first day of programming, fellows heard from leaders in policymaking, were acknowledged on the Senate Floor, and met with legislative offices. Their day began with a “Pathways to…

Webinar Examines Uneven Wildfire Recovery in Altadena

On January 6, LPPI hosted “The Altadena Recovery: Who Gets to Come Back?”, a webinar bringing together researchers and partners on the ground to mark the one-year anniversary of the Eaton wildfire. LPPI director of research Silvia González and senior research analyst Gabriella Carmona opened the program with their research on Altadena’s housing and small…

Inside LPPI’s Rapid-Response Research on the L.A. Wildfires

The Weight of the White Coat: Addressing California’s Latino Physician Shortage

On November 6, UCLA LPPI Faculty Expert, Glenda Flores, a professor of Chicano/Latino studies in the School of Social Sciences at UC Irvine, presented research from her new book, The Weight of the White Coat: Latinos Navigating American Medicine. The event was convened in Sacramento alongside the California Latino Caucus, the California Wellness Foundation, and…

LPPI Staff and Fellows Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in Altadena

On Friday, November 7, UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute (LPPI) staff and fellows volunteered with the San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity in Altadena, contributing to the first home being rebuilt through the organization’s Eaton Fire recovery efforts. Since the wildfire in January 2025, Habitat for Humanity has been working closely with homeowners to…

Inaugural California Latino Bench-Bar Leadership Summit Convenes at UCLA

An LPPI report published in the spring of 2025 found that while Latinos make up 40% of California’s population, they only comprise 6% of attorneys and 12% of seats on the Courts of Appeal. Additionally, Latinos have never had more than one justice serving simultaneously on the California Supreme Court. These disparities are why about…

Welcome 2025-2026 policy fellows

Now in its sixth year, LPPI’s policy fellowship program empowers UCLA graduate and undergraduate students to become transformational leaders through paid, hands-on experience working alongside the institute’s staff and faculty experts. These opportunities equip students with the skills and experience to work in policy and applied research – and to step into leadership roles across…

When Extreme Heat Becomes the Opponent

During my high school cross-country meets in Los Angeles, the competition doesn’t always feel like it’s just between runners. Sometimes the toughest opponent is the sun. I’ve watched teammates collapse to the floor after races, fighting off nausea from dehydration. On most days, practices stretch late into the afternoon, and the heat lingers long after…

Real Data, Real Impact: Confronting California’s Climate Inequities

For two decades, I had the honor of representing communities in Riverside and Imperial Counties in local and state government—places like Mecca, Coachella, and Calexico. These are hardworking families living near the Salton Sea, where the air is often thick with dust and pollution, and kids grow up with higher rates of asthma. The jobs…

UCLA LPPI Statement on the Passing of Kent Wong

We at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) are deeply saddened by the passing of Kent Wong. Over years of service, Kent’s leadership at the UCLA Labor Center was rooted in relationships, trust, and conviction. He believed that building a just future requires both scholarship and solidarity. His steadfast support for community-based work,…

Charlita: Alberto Vargas Shares Reflections on Latino Workers in California

The Latino workforce is central to California’s economy, yet faces steep disparities in wages, job security, health coverage, and housing. To better understand these findings, we asked Alberto Vargas, a graduate fellow and co-author of LPPI’s workforce briefs, to share his reflections. In this conversation, Vargas highlights the growth of Latino workers across regions, the barriers…

SCOTUS Opens Door to Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement

On September 8, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to resume immigration stops in the Los Angeles area using factors such as race, Spanish language use, and employment in certain industries as part of their justification. Statement from Amada Armenta, LPPI’s faculty director: “This week, the Supreme Court…

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