The Thorn West is a state and local news roundup compiled by volunteer members of DSA-LA. Our goal is to provide a weekly update on the latest developments in state and local politics, and to track the issues that are most important to our membership.

Issue No. 239 - September 5, 2025

State Politics

• California DSA delegates have voted to endorse Prop 50, the Election Rigging Response Act, which would redistrict the state’s congressional maps to counteract gerrymandering in Texas. Full statement here.

ICE in Los Angeles

• A California-based District Court has ruled that Trump’s specific deployment of marines and national guard troops to Los Angeles was illegal, but does not prohibit the administration from deploying troops to occupy other cities, as he has threatened to do.

• An ACLU lawsuit charges that the Border Patrol agents who conducted a raid in Sacramento violated a court order, prohibiting indiscriminate arrests based on racial profiling.

• Though a court order is meant to restrain ICE action in Los Angeles, LA Taco continues to document workplace raids across the county.

Housing Rights

• The city council split 8–5 on a motion to express opposition to SB 79, a proposed state law that would allow six-story apartment buildings to be built within a quarter-mile of any transit hub, overriding any local zoning restrictions. A coalition of tenant advocate groups is pushing for stronger language in SB 79 to protect tenants and incentivize affordable housing.

• The council will consider a motion for a report on removing regulations that require new housing to be built with on-site parking, as well as a motion to allow apartment buildings to be built with only one staircase.

• Though Los Angeles County has seen consistent declines in unsheltered homelessness, a Trump executive order, which punishes municipalities for less punitive homelessness policy, is about to cost the county’s housing programs millions of dollars.

• Governor Newsom has launched a statewide task force to eliminate encampments on Caltrans property, prompting many to notice similarities between his approach to homelessness and Trump’s.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• In 2023, Los Angeles County began limiting the use of cash bail to violent crimes. Though studies have shown that these policies do not lead to a rise in crime, a Trump executive order aims to punish municipalities that have passed cash bail reform.

• Governor Newsom has deployed surges of California Highway Patrol officers to combat crime, a policy which has again drawn comparisons between his policies and Trump’s.

Labor

• A deal between California legislators and Uber and Lyft would allow drivers to engage in collective bargaining. In exchange, the state will relax some insurance requirements for the rideshare companies.

• Capital & Main recognizes the strength of the labor movement in California, relative to the rest of the country,

Environmental Justice

• Dry thunderstorm conditions are responsible for a series of lightning-induced wildfires across the state.