Living unhoused and undocumented in one of California’s hottest regions

Temperatures quickly approached 116 degrees while Rubén Partida and his wife, Kimberly, loaded their dusty Nissan border truck with two water coolers and gatorades covered with ice. While their neighbors were preparing to take shelter during the hottest part of the day on June 30, the Partidas began their awareness efforts for members of the Brawley homeless community, a city of around 25,000 people in the heart of the California Imperial Valley.

This is the reality of the couple every day of the week from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. since June, when temperatures have started to regularly exceed 100.

In accordance with broader state and national trends, the imperial county has Given a regular increase in non -lotties,, Going from 1,057 in 2022 to 1,303 in 2023 and 1508 in 2024. The county increase from 2023 to 2024 exceeds the increases seen from the StateCalifornia having seen an increase of 3% during this period while the county of Imperial experienced an increase of 15.7%. And in summer, the growing population of non -Lodi people in the region fights deadly heat with little or no resources and support.

Rubén Partida buys ice he uses to keep the drinks in the fridge he plans to deliver to non -Lodi people in Brawley.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Rubén Partida is the founder and chief executive board of ACCIón del Valle (Valley Action Committee), a non -profit organization aimed at “educating the community on climate change and the environment of [Imperial] Valley ”, according to his website. He started the organization after surviving colon cancer, who told him that his doctors were caused by decades of exposure to chemicals and harmful conditions while working in the vast agricultural sector of the region.

This led to his dedication to educating the inhabitants and others on environmental dangers in the imperial valley and allowing them to speak. The organization focuses on agricultural workers most of the year, but during the summer, it redirects its attention to the community without housing.

Mainly, that means bringing people to water and helping them find places where they can cool off, said Partida. Achieving this community is difficult because their constant movement in search of cooler areas and tries to avoid confrontations with the local police. The Patrouille organization where housing -free groups – which can range from a few individuals to over 50 – are generally gather, like alleys, behind large buildings and parking lots.

When Ruben and Kimberly Partida find these groups, they use kindness and humor in order to disarm initial mistrust. Many relax when they see that the couple saw frozen drinks.

Kimberly Partida delivers cold drinks to a non -doussi person in the imperial valley.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The recent challenges have complicated the work of committee of Acción del Valle. The intensified scalabings of immigration and customs were ordered by the Trump administration, as well as local orders which essentially criminalize homeless not only in Brawley, but in other cities of the Imperial Valley, including Calexico and El Centro, have made more difficult for local communities not disputed to manage the heat that puts life in danger.

An increased border patrol and collaboration from the local police have led poorly married people to even more isolated and risky places, said Daniela Flores, co-founder and executive director of the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice coalition. “There are fewer [unhoused] People have come out, “said Flores.” They are afraid. “”

The coalition experienced an increased presence of the police and border patrols in the areas frequented by undocumented populations and undocumented, such as the city center of Calexico and the main street of El Centro. This probably means current efforts to keep these populations cool during extreme heat – such as public cooling centers or public buildings such as libraries which have air conditioning and which welcome everything – are not in viability. “You ask people to risk their lives to walk five or six houses of houses across the city to access A / C,” said Flores. And this means five or six blocks where they are not exposed only to ice but also to fatal heat.

“Now you see a lot of border patrol and ice on bikes everywhere,” said Rubén. “People no longer come out.”

Consequently, the places where people without housing of the Imperial Valley gathered, like the parks, are now empty. In his efforts to help this population, Rubén found that they often hide under the bridges, in the canals and in the storm sewers, making awareness almost impossible and also exposing these people in more precarious and warm places.

Flores explains that part of this demographic group are day workers, who generally gathered and stayed in certain places in the city to find work. “Some people literally live in the street and will work, and find themselves just placed in the street,” she said. This population, according to Flores, was also the target of an increased presence of immigration in the region.

People without housing in Brawley who received partitid water.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

A hot day in June, Ruben met one of these individuals, who asked to be called Rogelio, in a shopping center near El Centro. While Rubén gave him water, Rogelio told Times that he did not have a safe form of accommodation, sometimes living in a dilapidated campsite trailer without air conditioning outside the house of his brother nearby. To earn money, he washes the car edges outside a supermarket, working long hours in serious heat.

To get a respite, Rogelio sometimes went behind the supermarket, where he could find shadow. It was until the day he went behind the building to refresh himself, vanish and was woken up by a Klaxonnant border patrol vehicle. The agent finally left, but Rogelio said he was now worried about breaks where he felt safe.

The intensification of the application of immigration and the criminalization of the homeless has created a perilous situation in the imperial valley, which has led communities already vulnerable more deeply in isolation and danger. Despite the challenges of the achievement of these vulnerable populations, Ruben remains committed, motivated by personal experiences of harm and environmental loss.

“This is why we are fighting,” he said. “So that others do not suffer.”