The immigrant community in the Los Angeles area and across the nation has grown more concerned about what will happen as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement and word of ICE raids continues to spread.

The Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles said Friday that calls to the diplomatic facility have increased, with people expressing concerns and asking questions about what’s to come. The consulate is recommending that undocumented immigrants in the Los Angeles area stay informed using reliable sources, know their basic rights and contact them in case of a crisis.

“There is a climate of uncertainty around Los Angeles in the different immigrant communities,” Consul General Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez said in a Friday interview. “It is quite clear that there is a climate of uncertainty and mistrust in the immigrant community about what is happening.”

More than 3 million Los Angeles County residents are immigrants, according to a 2024 report from USC’s Equity Research Institute. That’s 34% of the county’s overall population.

And of those, more than 800,000 are undocumented, said the 2024 “State of Immigrants in L.A. County” report, which was published in July. More than 1 million L.A. residents live with someone who is undocumented, the report said.

President Donald Trump, who was sworn into office Monday and visited the wildfire-ravaged Pacific Palisades on Friday, has already signed executive orders aimed at significantly increasing immigration enforcement.

The administration said Friday it was expanding the use of “expedited removal” authority so it can be used across the country and that it would take immediate effect.

But the administration’s early efforts have drawn criticism from immigration advocates and officials from several states. More than 20 states, for example, sued to block an executive order that tried to nullify birthright citizenship for those born in the U.S. whose parents are not citizens, which a Seattle judge has temporarily blocked.

Several Los Angeles County cities, including L.A. and Long Beach, are sanctuary cities, meaning they won’t help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with deportations.

As for the consulate, one of its responsibilities is to be in contact with the community, inform its members about any mass deportation efforts, and verify if information about those efforts, including raids by ICE, is true, the consul general said.

“Unfortunately, and this happened during the first Trump administration as well, is the spread of misinformation,” Gutierrez said. “People describe something that seems to be extraordinary as a massive raid, and it is enough that someone contacts a radio station or publishes a tweet. That’s enough to create a lot of noise and unfounded reports in the community that create in itself fear and concern.”

Los Angeles’ Mexican Consulate is in constant communication with immigration authorities in the area, Gutierrez added.

The consulate is “pretty confident” that if a massive immigration raid occurred in the city, he said, they would know soon and would be able to contact the community through different means to inform them.

“Our job as consulates starts by providing crucial information and verifiable information to our (citizens),” Gutierrez said, “and the more information we can share with them, the better position they will be to make informed decisions.

“I think that because of the climate that has been created, it is natural that people are concerned, particularly if you or a loved one is undocumented,” he said. “To be undocumented in this country is to have an intrinsic vulnerability with you that accompanies you anywhere you go.”

The federal administration is creating mistrust, Gutierrez said, which also erodes trust in any type of government authority. But, the consul general said, the entire consulate network for months has been working to be prepared for the Trump administration in four key areas.

Those areas include providing legal advice to the immigrant community, streamlining processes for documentation, strengthening relationships with local community organizations and being more accessible.

The Mexican Consulate wants to make sure that undocumented immigrants can get legal advice through the consulate, Gutierrez said.

“Many people who are undocumented do not know their chances of regularizing their immigration status,” he said. “Every case is different, and you need to ask those questions to people who are experts on immigration law.

“Every day we offer diagnostic evaluations by our consulate attorneys to anyone who asks for help in that regard, but we also provide legal advice to people who are detained and need to present their case to a judge,” Gutierrez added. “Particularly those who have already established roots in this country, who have families in this country, they should be asking for a judge to hear their case and not simply to be removed in an expedited way.”

The consulate has also focused on improving its efforts to provide services, such as providing passports a consular identification and birth certificates, which are acts of consular protection, he said.

“The Mexican government, through the consular network, is trying to digitalize part of these processes and reduce in some cases the number of requirements that are needed,” he said.

The consulate is also working with local nonprofits whose mission is to protect the rights and interests of immigrants and is coordinating efforts. Officials are also making sure the consulate is accessible through different avenues, such as social media, phone, email and through their app.

“We want to make sure that people feel comfortable being in contact with us and that they find many ways to let us know about a crisis,” Gutierrez said. “That’s what we are doing, making sure that we are open, that we are capable of showing empathy, and that people feel comfortable contacting us.”

Gutierrez also recommended that undocumented immigrants know their basic rights.

“No matter what your immigration status, you have certain basic rights,” he said, “such as the right to remain silent, the right to ask for a call with your counsel or consulate in case you are detained, and the right to refuse to sign anything without the proper advice of an attorney.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.