Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, December 5, 2025…
- A man and his best friend are being reunited in Mexico on Friday, three months after being separated by immigration agents outside a Day Laborer Center about an hour east of Los Angeles.
- The Inspector General for California’s massive prison system says a backlog of investigations into staff misconduct has ballooned to 10,000 cases.
- The governing body for high school sports in California is changing its bylaws in an effort to protect immigrant student athletes.
Separated In Raid, Deported Pomona Man To Reunite With His Dog
In September, a former day laborer was detained by Border Patrol agents outside the Pomona Day Labor Center and self-deported to Mexico just days later. In the process, he left everything behind — including his 9-year-old pit bull, Chapo. The Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, who runs the day labor center, has now raised enough money to reunite the two.
Fernando Salazar migrated to the United States 22 years ago and eventually settled in Pomona. The 60-year-old worked as a day laborer, living largely alone after his wife and children chose not to immigrate. That changed nine years ago when neighbors found a stray puppy and gave him to Salazar. He said he raised Chapo like his child. “The dog motivated me to keep going,” he said in Spanish from his hometown in Morelos, a rural state south of Mexico City. “When I’m eating tacos, he wants to eat tacos too.”
Decades of isolation from his family led to depression, Salazar said, but caring for Chapo — the walks, the baths, the routine of it all — helped him feel grounded. That routine abruptly ended on Sept. 25. Salazar said he was walking Chapo near the day labor center when he noticed Border Patrol agents in the parking lot. The officers were targeting two other workers, according to staff at the site, not Salazar. Yet, he was still detained.
Video recorded at the scene shows a staff member pleading with agents while Salazar asks repeatedly to leave with his dog. Moments later, an agent requested Salazar’s identification. Salazar, who was undocumented, said he was detained and does not remember where he was taken first. Staff at the center said he was held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. Salazar eventually agreed to voluntary deportation. Three days later, he was released at the Tijuana border. He said he was advised not to sign the papers but felt he had no choice. He was still recovering from abdominal surgery he had in February.
