Updated: 1:08 p.m. on Feb. 11, 2026
Boyle Heights is among the Los Angeles neighborhoods considered most vulnerable to immigration enforcement activity, according to a new report from Los Angeles County.
The analysis, compiled by the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, identified neighborhoods with higher rates of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and greater economic vulnerability. The 10 most vulnerable ZIP codes are primarily in working-class, immigrant neighborhoods, the report found.
The 90023 ZIP code in Boyle Heights is listed among the county’s most at-risk areas, along with Westlake, Maywood and Huntington Park, because of its higher concentration of foreign-born residents from Latin America, renter households, noncitizen workers and Spanish speakers, according to the report.
In Boyle Heights, 40% of its foreign population is from Latin America and nearly 89% are Spanish speakers, according to the analysis. Nearly 75% of households in Boyle Heights are renter-occupied, researchers said.
The report notes that a “greater reliance on rental housing means that any loss of income can quickly affect housing stability.” Westlake’s share of renter-occupied households, for example, is nearly 97%.
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said the report makes clear the role racial profiling has played in the way immigration agents conduct raids.
“The report confirms what our community has long known: ICE actions are not random; they are calculated moves that rely on racial profiling to sow fear, chaos, and division while destabilizing neighborhoods already fighting to stay rooted,” Jurado said in a statement provided to Boyle Heights Beat.
Since the raids began, Jurado has called for more funding for Represent LA, a private-public partnership providing legal aid to undocumented immigrants facing deportation. The councilmember has also worked toward waiving vehicle towing and impound storage fees for people forced to leave behind their vending carts, cars, or bicycles after being detained by federal immigration agents.
Boyle Heights recently experienced the most federal immigration activity in a single day – on Jan. 28 – since the raids began last summer. Flower vendors and a frutero were among the six taken in a cluster of raids in Boyle Heights and East LA.
The report, commissioned by the county Board of Supervisors, found severe impacts on families of street vendors and day laborers “whose families have lost their primary source of income in recent months.”
It also cited long-term impacts on small business owners, with many dropping out of support programs and foregoing resources. For example, one business support program saw a “huge dropoff” in Spanish-language entrepreneurship courses, according to the report.
The Department of Homeland Security says it has detained more than 10,000 people in the LA area since June, according to numbers released in December. Its aggressive deportation campaign has altered daily life in Los Angeles, where nearly one in five people is undocumented or lives with someone who is undocumented.
This story was updated to include a statement by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.
LAist contributed to this report.
