Latest news with #Fehlman
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
For some, Latinos will never be truly American
A month ago, my colleague Brittny Mejia reported on the growing fear many U.S.-born Latino Angelenos feel due to the endless barrage of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids being carried out in their neighborhoods. 'You're scared to be brown,' said Jackie Ramirez, a radio host for 'The Cruz Show' on Real 92.3. 'You're scared to look a certain way right now.' On Wednesday, The Times published a story by staff writer Jack Flemming that certainly validates that fear. At the heart of it is a Latino family who is suing their former landlord and a real estate agent over what they claim was an illegal eviction from their Baldwin Park home last year. In a letter emailed June 25 to Sarah McCracken — a tenants' rights lawyer representing the family — urging her clients to drop the suit, Rod Fehlman, who appeared to represent the real estate agent, wrote the following: 'It is also interesting to note that your clients are likely to be picked up by ICE and deported prior to trial thanks to all the good work the Trump administration has done in regards to immigration in California.' The kicker? Every person in that family is a U.S. citizen. The story struck a chord online, with many X and Bluesky users accusing Fehlman of being racist. Some of that anger was even directed at Cal Poly Pomona — on his site, Fehlman states that he is an adjunct professor at the university. In a statement to The Times, a spokesperson for the university said that Fehlman's temporary contract ended in 2013. Yicenia Morales, McCracken's client, told The Times that she felt racially profiled because of her last name. 'It's not fair for him to take advantage of that. I was born here. I have a birth certificate. I pay taxes,' she said. 'I was already depressed over the eviction. Now I'm hurt, embarrassed and nervous as well. Will he really call ICE on us?' Fehlman did not respond to Jack's request for comment, but did speak with the Independent, telling the outlet that his words were misinterpreted. 'My email mentions nothing about Ms. McCracken's client's citizenship,' he said. 'This is an ongoing problem in Southern California and a sad reality that litigants have been picked randomly at Courthouses. It is unfortunate that this comment has been taken out of context intentionally by Ms. McCracken's firm and used to defame my office.' I reached out to Fehlman via email, asking him to clarify the context and provide any evidence he had to prove that Morales and her family were 'likely to be picked up by ICE and deported,' but he did not respond. Although it's unclear whether Fehlman's response was illegal — the State Bar of California bans lawyers from threatening to present criminal, administrative or disciplinary charges to obtain an advantage in a civil dispute — the incident is certainly a sobering reminder that there are plenty of people who will always see Latinos as un-American, and have been emboldened by the Trump administration's attack on immigrant communities to start saying the quiet part out loud. It doesn't matter that the majority of us were born here and primarily speak English. These people don't care that you served your country or that you wave its flag at protests. To them, we will always be Josés or Marias. Join the De Los team Aug. 2 from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. as we co-present a free Grand Performances concert headlined by Adrian Quesada, the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist and one of the bandleaders of Black Pumas. Last month, Quesada put out 'Boleros Psícodelicos II, ' a follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2022 album of the same name that features vocalists Mireya Ramos, Gaby Moreno, Cuco and others. The record, which fuses psychadelia with traditional Latin sounds, has been on repeat at my household ever since its release — 'Bravo,' recorded with iLe from Calle 13, is a top tier hater track sung from the perspective of a spurned lover. Kicking off the night will be El Marchante (6 p.m.), a dynamic project that pays tribute to Latin American and Caribbean music through live events, and will be followed by Explorare (7 p.m.), a musical collective that got its start at a monthly residency at the Chinatown bar Melody Lounge. Quesada will hit the stage at 8:30 p.m. Since 1987, Grand Performances has hosted free outdoor performances. The organization's focus is on giving a platform to global and local acts. Previously, acts such as Stevie Wonder, Aloe Blacc and Ana Tijoux have participated in its programming. Last year, we co-presented a free concert featuring jazz and pop singer Daymé Arocena. The De Los team will be there starting at 5 p.m., and we'll be giving out free posters and other goodies to Latinx Files subscribers. You can RSVP for the event here. Alex Evans, co-executive director and head puppeteer at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, guides a dragon as Juanita y Juan — the duo formed by legendary Chicano punk rockers Alice Bag and Kid Congo Powers — perform their 'loud lounge' sounds for children and their parents at The Ford Theater in Los Angeles, on Sunday July 20, 2025. De Los editor Suzy Exposito spoke to Bag and Powers about introducing punk to kids, their 2025 album, 'Jungle Cruise,' and how to find comfort in such challenging, dark times. 'It's very easy to become despondent and overwhelmed. But you don't have to feel like you're lifting this whole weight by yourself,' Bag said. 'It's important to know that you do have a community that stands with you. We're all working in different ways. We're all a band. We're going to make it through this together.' Unless otherwise noted, all stories in this section are from the L.A. Times.
Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Latino tenants sued their landlord. A lawyer told them they would be 'picked up by ICE.'
In her entire law career, Sarah McCracken has never seen anything like the email she received on June 25. McCracken, a tenants' rights lawyer at Tobener Ravenscroft, is currently representing a Latino family suing a landlord and real estate agent for illegal eviction after being kicked out of their Baldwin Park home last year. A few weeks after being served, amid a series of ICE raids primarily targeting Latino communities in L.A. County, Rod Fehlman, the lawyer who appeared to be representing the agent at the time, sent McCracken's team a series of emails disputing the lawsuit and urging them to drop the case. He ended the correspondence with this: 'It is also interesting to note that your clients are likely to be picked up by ICE and deported prior to trial thanks to all the good work the Trump administration has done in regards to immigration in California.' 'It's racist,' McCracken said. 'Not only is it unethical and probably illegal, but it's just a really wild thing to say — especially since my clients are U.S. citizens.' The comment arrived as ICE raises tensions between landlords and Latino tenants. According to California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, ICE has been pressuring some landlords to report their tenants' immigration status. Bonta's office issued a consumer alert on Tuesday reminding landlords that 'it is illegal in California to discriminate against tenants or to harass or retaliate against a tenant by disclosing their immigration status to law enforcement.' Fehlman didn't respond to requests for comment, nor did the clients he seemed to be representing: real estate agent David Benavides and brokerage Majesty One Properties, Inc. Fehlman's role in the case is unclear; following requests for comment from The Times, Benavides and the brokerage responded to McCracken's complaint using a different law firm. But according to McCracken, Fehlman serves as the defendants' personal attorney and will likely still take part in the lawsuit in an advisory role. Evicted From 2018 to 2024, Yicenia Morales rented a two-bedroom condo in Baldwin Park, which she shared with her husband, three children and grandson. According to her wrongful eviction lawsuit filed in May, the house had a slew of problems: faulty electricity, leaks in the bathroom, bad ventilation, and a broken heater, air-conditioning unit and garage door. 'There was a lot that needed to be fixed, but we accepted it because we were just happy to find a place to live,' Morales said. The real problems started in 2024, when her landlord, Celia Ruiz, started asking the family to leave because she wanted to sell the property, which isn't a valid reason for eviction under California law or Baldwin Park's Just Cause Eviction Ordinance, the suit said. According to the lawsuit, Ruiz then changed her story, alleging that she wanted to move into the house herself, which would be a valid reason for eviction. According to the suit, Ruiz and her real estate agent, David Benavides of Majesty One Properties, constantly urged Morales and her family to leave. In September, the pressure mounted. Ruiz penned a handwritten note saying she needed the house back, and Benavides began calling them almost every day, the suit said. In November, assuming Ruiz needed to move back in, Morales left. But instead of moving in herself, Ruiz put the property on the market in January and sold it by March. 'I really believed she needed the house for herself,' Morales said. 'I'm just tired of people taking advantage of others.' Lawyer tactics Depending on your interpretation of California's Business and Professions Code, Fehlman's comment could be illegal, McCracken said. Section 6103.7 says lawyers can be suspended, disbarred or disciplined if they 'report suspected immigration status or threaten to report suspected immigration status of a witness or party to a civil or administrative action.' In addition, the State Bar of California bans lawyers from threatening to present criminal, administrative or disciplinary charges to obtain an advantage in a civil dispute. You could argue that Fehlman's email isn't a threat. He never said he'd call ICE himself, only claiming that Morales and her family 'are likely to be picked up by ICE and deported.' Morales and her entire family are all U.S. citizens. But she said she feels racially profiled because of her last name. 'It's not fair for him to take advantage of that,' she said. 'I was born here. I have a birth certificate. I pay taxes.' Just to be safe, Morales sent her birth certificates to McCracken's team. Even though she's a citizen, if Fehlman reports her to ICE, she still doesn't feel safe. Federal agents have arrested U.S. citizens during its recent raids across L.A, and a 2018 investigation by The Times found that ICE has arrested nearly 1,500 U.S. citizens since 2012, detaining some for years at a time. 'I was already depressed over the eviction. Now I'm hurt, embarrassed and nervous as well. Will he really call ICE on us?' Morales said. McCracken said Fehlman's message is a byproduct of the current anti-immigrant political environment. Fehlman sent the email on June 25, the end of a jarring month that saw the agency arrest 2,031 people across seven counties in Southern California, 68% of which had no criminal convictions. 'People seem to be emboldened to flout the law because they see people at the top doing it,' she said. 'It's totally unacceptable behavior.' An ironic twist, she added, is that Fehlman's own client at the time was also Latino. 'I don't know if Benavides was aware that his lawyer is making racially profiling comments, but I don't think he'd want to work with someone like that,' McCracken said. The case is still in its early stages. Benavides and Majesty One Properties responded to the complaint on July 17, and McCracken's team hasn't officially served the landlord Ruiz yet because they've been unable to locate her. In the wake of the ICE comment, communication between McCracken and Fehlman halted. McCracken decided Fehlman's rant and possible threat didn't warrant a response, and Fehlman hasn't said anything else in the meantime. Her team is still deciding how they want to proceed in the wake of the comment, which could justify legal action. She called it a dangerous attempt to chill her client's speech and a failed attempt to intimidate her into dropping the case. But he took it way too far. 'We're at a point in time where lawyers need to be upholding the rule of law,' she said. 'Especially in a time like this.'
