Columbia University’s Merlin Chowkwanyun says public health has a long history of being used against asylum seekers – from repatriation to segregation

In one of Donald Trump’s many day one executive orders and proclamations, he cited not just safety and national security as a reason to crack down on immigration – but also public health.

It’s not the first time the president has used public health to block immigration. In the early days of the Covid pandemic, his administration used a dormant wartime law from 1944, known as Title 42, to invoke public health restrictions to turn back migrants at the US-Mexico border. It expired in 2023, during the Biden administration, but experts believe it could be revived as Trump’s advisers have reportedly spent months trying to find a disease that would help them be able to close the border.

Many palm species in the city are receptive to embers, hard to extinguish – and probably helped spread the fires

When the Los Angeles wildfires broke out on the morning of 7 January, some of the most dramatic images were of palm trees set ablaze along Sunset Boulevard. In the days that followed, burning palms became a symbol to illustrate what may be the costliest wildfires in history, which left at least 25 dead and destroyed thousands of structures.

The trees are icons of the city. They also played a role in spreading the flames, researchers and fire officials say.