US: Migrant Workers at Forefront of LA Wildfire Relief Efforts

The death toll of the wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area has climbed to 25. The Eaton fire, one of the deadliest in California’s history, is at the time of this writing only 45% contained, and the Palisades fires is only 19% contained, although the situation is rapidly evolving. Both the Palisades and Eaton fires are estimated to be some of the most destructive in California’s history.

As firefighters, many of whom are incarcerated and forced to work for a fraction of the state’s minimum wage, struggle to put out the wildfires, migrant workers are leading relief efforts across Los Angeles. Immigrant day laborers, organized with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), have launched a “Fire Relief Brigade” to help clean up the streets of Los Angeles following the devastation incurred by the wildfires. Arriving with trucks, migrant workers are volunteering to clean up streets clogged with branches and other debris from the fires. 

Brave volunteer fire brigades led by @NDLON are hard at work in Pasadena in the aftermath of the Eaton fire to clean up debris and distribute supplies. The Eaton fire has now expanded from 13,690 acres and continues to burn.

Our working class community has shown out in full… pic.twitter.com/HkmsUuW9Qd

— Party for Socialism and Liberation (@pslnational) January 10, 2025

NDLON, an organization of migrant workers that has also been gearing up to prepare for Trump’s promised wave of mass deportations, has been promoting the slogan “solo el pueblo salva al pueblo” (only the people can save the people). NDLON volunteers are also distributing food, water, and emergency kits, and providing temporary shelter through the Pasadena Community Job Center. 

According to NDLON volunteer Manuel Vicente, the day laborer volunteer brigades are “a way to respond to those attacks that our community has faced” as well as the
“stigma that is around us,” which alleges that migrants are “criminals” and “rapists,” recalling Trump’s racist rhetoric against immigrants. “We respond to those attacks with love,” Vicente said. 

According to Vicente, migrant workers have had to step in given that the city of Los Angeles “is not prepared for this type of disaster.” According to Vicente, the city of Los Angeles misallocated resources, placing them in “things that are not important for our community.”

Indeed, the wildfires have drawn attention to the fact that shortly before this disaster, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had defunded the city’s fire department by USD 17.6 million,  while the Los Angeles Police Department received a funding increase of nearly USD 126 million. And while Los Angeles residents struggle to rebuild their homes and lives following the destruction of the fires, the California government seems preoccupied with the handful of people who have been allegedly committing acts of “looting,” with Governors Gavin Newson doubling the amount of National Guard numbers for the primary purpose of defending private property and arresting the so-called looters. 

Meanwhile, Mexico, which has been the subject of attacks by incoming president Donald Trump, who has threatened the sovereignty of the neighboring country, has sent 72 of its own firefighters to Los Angeles to aid the city. The government of Mexico is also preparing for Trump’s threatened mass deportations, reaffirming their support for migrants.

Leftist, working class, and socialist organizations have come together to demand that Los Angeles be rebuilt “for the working class, not the rich.” 

“Instead of finding a solution for the fire, they keep speaking about how many people they have arrested as looters,” said Javier Guerrero, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, at a community press conference this week held in conjunction with working class organizations such as the tenants union Union de Vecinos. “They are the real looters! The insurance companies are the real looters!” he said, referring to the insurance companies that cancelled millions of insurance policies, leaving Los Angeles homeowners financially stranded. “Fight the fire, not the people,” Guerrero said.