On Thursday, he signed an executive order to address “endemic vagrancy” and end “crime and disorder on our streets.” He called for the use of “civil commitments” to get those who suffer from mental illness or addiction into “humane treatment.”
Steve Lopez
Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.
This comes after last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling making it legal for cities to punish people for being homeless, even if they have nowhere to go.
There’s some truth in what he says, and California’s record on housing and homelessness is ripe for criticism. I’ve watched too many people suffer from addiction and mental illness and asked why the help is so slow to arrive. But I also know there are no simple answers for either crisis, and bluster is no substitute for desperately needed resources.
Like a lot of what Trump does, this is another case of grandstanding. In the meantime, the Washington Post reported Thursday that the “Trump administration has slashed more than $1 billion in COVID-era grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is proposing to slash hundreds of millions more in agency grants.”
Wendell Blassingame sits at the entrance to San Julian Park in downtown Los Angeles in 2023.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
As it happens, I was in the middle of a column on the latest Los Angeles homeless count when news of Trump’s executive order broke. I had just spent time with two homeless women to hear about their predicaments, and none of what Trump is proposing comes close to addressing their needs, which are tragically commonplace.
Namely, they’re living in poverty and can’t afford a place to live.
In his executive order, Trump said that “nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having used hard drugs … in their lifetimes. An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions.”
I don’t know where he got those numbers, but truth and accuracy are not hallmarks of this administration.
No doubt, addiction and mental illness are significant factors, and more intervention is needed.
But that’s more complicated than he thinks, especially given the practical and legal issues surrounding coercive treatment — and it’s not going to solve the problem.
When the latest homeless count in Los Angeles was released, a slight decline from a year ago was regarded by many as a positive sign. But when Eli Veitzer of Jewish Family Service L.A. dug into the numbers, he found something both unsurprising and deeply disturbing.
The number of homeless people 65 and older hadn’t gone down. It had surged, in both the city and county of Los Angeles.
“This isn’t new this year. It’s a trend over the last couple of years,” said Veitzer, whose nonprofit provides meals, housing assistance and various other services to clients. “It’s meaningful, and it’s real, and these people are at the highest risk of mortality while they’re on the streets.”
The numbers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed a 3.4% decrease in the total homeless population in the city, but a 17.6% increase among those 65 and older. The county numbers showed a 3.99% decrease overall, but an 8.59% increase in the 65 and older group.
In the city, the increase over two years was from 3,427 in 2023 to 4,680 this year — up 37%.
Reliable research has shown that among older adults who become homeless, the primary reason is the combination of poverty and high housing costs, rather than mental illness or addiction.
A man smokes inside a tent on Los Angeles’ Skid Row in March 2020.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
“They or their spouse lost their job, they or their spouse got sick, their marriage broke up or their spouse or parent died,” Dr. Margot Kushel of UC San Francisco’s Homelessness and Housing Initiative was telling me several hours before Trump’s executive order was issued.
Her team’s landmark study, released two years ago (and covered by my colleague Anita Chabria), found that nearly half the state’s homeless residents were 50 and older, and that participants in the study reported a median monthly household income of $960.
“The results … confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” Kushel said at the time.
Among the older population, Veitzer said, the jump in homelessness comes against the backdrop of federal and local budget cuts that will make it harder to reverse the trend. And harder for nonprofits, which rely in part on public funding, to keep providing group meals, home-delivered meals, transportation, social services and housing support.
“Every provider I’ve talked to in the city of L.A. is cutting meal programs,” Veitzer said. “We’re going to have to close two of our 13 meal sites, and last year we closed three. We used to have 16, and now we’re down to 11.”
On Wednesday, I went to one of the sites that’s still up and running on Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405, and met Jane Jefferies, 69. She told me she’s been camping in her vehicle since February when living with her brother became impossible for various reasons. She now pulls into a Safe Parking L.A. lot each night to bed down.
Jefferies said she collects about $1,400 a month in Social Security, which isn’t enough to get her into an apartment. At the senior center, she uses her own equipment to make buttons that she sells on the Venice boardwalk, where she can make up to $200 on a good weekend.
But that’s still not enough to cover the cost of housing, she told me, and she’s given up on government help.
“All the funding has been cut, and I don’t know if it’s because a lot of the city and state funding is subsidized by the federal government. We all know Trump hates California,” she said.
As Veitzer put it: “There’s nowhere near enough low-income senior housing in L.A. County. Wait lists open up periodically,” with far more applicants than housing units. “And then they close.”
His agency delivers a daily meal to Vancie Davis, 73, who lives in a van at Penmar Park in Venice. Her next-door neighbor is her son, Thomas Williamson, 51, who lives in his car.
Davis was in the front seat of the van when I arrived, hugging her dog, Heart. Her left leg was amputated below the knee two years ago because of an infection, she told me.
Davis said she and another son were living in a trailer in Oregon, but the owner shut off the utilities and changed the locks. She said she reached out to Williamson, who told her, “I’ve got a van for you, so you’ll have a place to live, but it’s going to be rough. And it is. It’s very, very rough.”
I’ve heard so many variations of stories like these over the years, I’ve lost count.
The magnitude that exists in the wealthiest nation in history is a disgrace, and a sad commentary on an economic system and public policy that have served to widen, rather than narrow, the inequity gap.
On Thursday, Trump’s executive order on homelessness grabbed headlines but will do nothing for Jane Jefferies or Vancie Davis and for thousands like them. We know the interventions that can work, Kushel said, but with deep cuts in the works, we’re moving in the wrong direction.
Davis’ son Thomas told Times photographer Genaro Molina about another person who lives in a vehicle and has been a neighbor of theirs in the parking lot.
It seems Denise Richards and husband Aaron Phypers are going their separate ways after six years of marriage.
Phypers filed his petition to divorce actor and “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Richards on Monday, The Times has confirmed. The businessman filed his petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He cites “irreconcilable differences” for the split and lists July 4 as the date of his separation from Richards.
A representative for Richards did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
“Wild Things” actor Richards, 54, tied the knot with Phypers, 49, in 2018. They do not share children, but Richards has two adult daughters with ex-husband Charlie Sheen. She and the “Two and a Half Men” actor were married from 2002 to 2006. Richards is also the mother to a teenage daughter whom she adopted as an infant.
Phypers was previously married to “Desperate Housewives” star Nicollette Sheridan from 2015 to 2018.
Phypers is reportedly seeking spousal support from his now-estranged wife, according to court documents reviewed by The Times. In his declaration, Phypers says he has made no income since closing down a business last year and estimates Richards makes more than $250,000 a month from several business ventures including brand deals, TV and OnlyFans content. Phypers has asked to keep their assets and debts as separate property, including his power tools, motorcycle and sports car, legal documents show.
The couple began their relationship in 2017 and married a little more than a year later in a private ceremony in Malibu. They wed in September 2018, a month after Phypers finalized his divorce from Sheridan.
Though Richards has not publicly commented on Phypers’ decision to file, she made her thoughts on divorce pretty clear earlier this year. In the debut episode of her Peacock series “Denise Richards & Her Wild Things,” Richards said in a confessional interview, “I’m never getting divorced again. Even if we hate each other, I’m not gonna f— get divorced.”
Phypers responded: “No, we’ll just have different homes or something. But we’re not gonna hate each other.”
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Liu Jia-yen had been living in Taiwan for more than two decades when she received notice that she was suddenly at risk of being deported.
In April, the National Immigration Agency told Liu, a 51-year-old Chinese immigrant, she had three months to provide evidence that she gave up her household registration — an official record of residence that grants benefits such as healthcare and education — in Guangxi, China. If she couldn’t find the right documents, she’d have to leave.
Liu thought she’d submitted the files long ago and called her 26-year-old daughter, Ariel Ko, in tears.
Ko, who was born and raised in Taiwan, called the immigration agency dozens of times over the next few days, unable to reach an operator. Meanwhile in China, Liu’s 80-year-old grandfather began visiting his local police station in search of old records, and her brother scoured his government contacts for anyone who could help.
Taiwanese military cadets holding Taiwan flags pose for selfies after attending the New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony outside the Presidential Palace in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 1. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has warned that no one can prevent China’s reunification with Taiwan.
(Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images)
There are tens of thousands of Chinese-born people in Taiwan, which has been increasing scrutiny of them over the past year, citing concerns about infiltration and espionage. The immigration agency says the vast majority of Chinese living in Taiwan have filed the appropriate paperwork showing that they have canceled household registration in China, but about 12,000 people are facing a scramble — similar to Liu’s — for documents.
“I understand that the government has its policies, and we can respect that,” Ko said. “But what makes us upset is that we’re just ordinary citizens. If you’re going to ask us to do something this difficult, have you considered things from our perspective?”
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has threatened to take it by force, stepping up simulated attacks in recent years. Beijing has taken a particularly harsh stance against President Lai Ching-te, whom Chinese officials have called a “dangerous separatist” because he has promoted Taiwanese independence.
Concerns about spying in Taiwan and China date back to the Chinese civil war, after which the defeated Chinese Nationalist Party, or the Kuomintang, fled to Taiwan in 1949. Eventually, tensions began to ease as the two governments slowly resumed dialogue and cooperation over the next several decades. But in recent years, both China and Taiwan have been taking unprecedented actions in the name of national security.
Last year, China said it would ratchet up the punishment for advocates of Taiwanese independence, including imposing the death penalty. Lai, who took office a year ago and has called China a “foreign hostile force,” has proposed reinstating military trials for some espionage cases, criminalizing expressions of loyalty to China within the armed forces and tightening oversight of people traveling between China and Taiwan.
In March, three members of the Taiwanese presidential security team were convicted of spying for China. Taiwan also deported three Chinese immigrants for voicing their support online for unification through military action. Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency said this is the first time that spouses of Taiwanese citizens have had their residency revoked for such reasons. More than 140,000 Chinese immigrants hold residency in Taiwan because they are married to Taiwanese citizens.
Chinese influencer YAYA (Liu Zhenya) with a white hat and members of a NGO assisting her case hold a news conference, as she complies with Taiwan’s order to leave Taiwan after her residency was revoked for posting videos advocating “One China” and “Unification with China by Force” at Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 25, 2025.
(Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said the records requirement has existed since 2004, and the recent notices were sent to ensure that those who want to stay in Taiwan can do so. But critics say that the sudden enforcement is unfair.
“It’s like our government has been asleep, like Sleeping Beauty, for 21 years. And now, all of a sudden, it wakes up and demands that Chinese spouses who’ve been living in Taiwan for so many years provide an important document from two decades ago,” said Chang Chi-kai, an opposition party legislator who is urging the administration to give Chinese spouses and their children more time.
After the public backlash, Taiwan announced additional exemptions for individuals with extenuating circumstances such as financial hardship, medical needs or safety concerns about traveling to China to search for records.
In Taiwan, people born in China are subject to different immigration laws than other nationalities. Milo Hsieh, founder of the consulting firm Safe Spaces in Taipei, says that distinction makes them more susceptible to discriminatory legal treatment, particularly in times of extreme political polarization.
“It resembles what I’m observing in the U.S. right now in Trump’s immigration crackdown, particularly on international students,” said Hsieh, referring to the hundreds of student protesters who have had their visas revoked. “They are deliberately targeting this class of individuals that are associated with a national security threat.”
Some frustrated residents say the bureaucratic bind is emblematic of long-standing discrimination.
Ko, who was born and raised in Taiwan, still remembers how her classmates used to tease her for having a mother from China, and would tell her to go back to the mainland. On social media, some were sympathetic to her mother’s struggle, while others told her to “save your fake tears,” or “if you want to be Taiwanese then follow our rules.”
Taiwan’s government has said that, according to its own polls conducted in March, more than 70% of respondents in Taiwan want officials to more thoroughly investigate whether Chinese immigrants here still hold residency or household registration in China, especially those who work in the military or public sector.
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office in July 2022, Tsai Ing-wen, president at the time, is seen through glass on board a ship during military exercises.
(Shioro Lee / Associated Press)
“If China decides to start a war, then Taiwan needs to determine what to do in that situation,” said Fan Hsin-yu, an associate professor at National Taiwan University who specializes in immigration law. “First, it has to clarify who belongs to which side, who is the enemy, and who is one of us. That’s why this process is something they feel must be finalized soon.”
Fan said legal experts are divided on whether the government is justified in its recent documentation demands. She added that the measures may even be counterproductive, since China could simply issue certification to its spies or collaborators, while those who support Taiwanese sovereignty could put themselves at risk by going to China, or otherwise be forced to leave.
“The issue is not about legality, it’s about whether this is a smart move,” she said.
Chang and his family in China
(Courtesy of Chang Chih-yuan)
Chang Chih-yuan moved to Taichung, a city in central Taiwan, at age 4 and served in Taiwan’s military. He needs to secure documents to remain here but said he feels uneasy about providing all of his personal information — including his household registration history, physical ID card and travel permit — to the police station in Guangdong, China, where his family once lived.
Ultimately, he decided that he didn’t have much choice. His Chinese mother had received the immigration notice in April, and after many sleepless nights, she decided to take a month off from her cleaning job to obtain the certificate. When Chang, 34, inquired about his own paperwork, the immigration agency told him he would probably get a similar notice later this year.
“It just made me feel like I’m still not considered a real Taiwanese person,” he said.
A man walks past a hoisted Taiwanese flag at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Oct. 15, 2024. The day before, China insisted it would never renounce the “use of force” to take control of Taiwan, after ending a day of military drills around the island.
(I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images)
Another resident who immigrated from China as a child said he has been considering emigrating to Singapore since he received his notice. His father traveled to China’s Fujian province to seek household documentation on his behalf, but he still worries that his mainland roots could put his status at risk again in the future.
“The situation now feels like they assume if you were born in China, you’re an ally of the Chinese Communist Party and you have to prove your innocence,” the 33-year-old said, requesting anonymity for fear that speaking publicly could affect his case. “I feel like I’ve been completely betrayed by my country.”
Times staff writer Yang and special correspondent Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.
Commentary: Trump’s order on homelessness gets it all wrong, and here’s why
President Trump has the answer to homelessness.
Forcibly clear the streets.
On Thursday, he signed an executive order to address “endemic vagrancy” and end “crime and disorder on our streets.” He called for the use of “civil commitments” to get those who suffer from mental illness or addiction into “humane treatment.”
Steve Lopez
Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.
This comes after last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling making it legal for cities to punish people for being homeless, even if they have nowhere to go.
There’s some truth in what he says, and California’s record on housing and homelessness is ripe for criticism. I’ve watched too many people suffer from addiction and mental illness and asked why the help is so slow to arrive. But I also know there are no simple answers for either crisis, and bluster is no substitute for desperately needed resources.
Like a lot of what Trump does, this is another case of grandstanding. In the meantime, the Washington Post reported Thursday that the “Trump administration has slashed more than $1 billion in COVID-era grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is proposing to slash hundreds of millions more in agency grants.”
Wendell Blassingame sits at the entrance to San Julian Park in downtown Los Angeles in 2023.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
As it happens, I was in the middle of a column on the latest Los Angeles homeless count when news of Trump’s executive order broke. I had just spent time with two homeless women to hear about their predicaments, and none of what Trump is proposing comes close to addressing their needs, which are tragically commonplace.
Namely, they’re living in poverty and can’t afford a place to live.
In his executive order, Trump said that “nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having used hard drugs … in their lifetimes. An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions.”
I don’t know where he got those numbers, but truth and accuracy are not hallmarks of this administration.
No doubt, addiction and mental illness are significant factors, and more intervention is needed.
But that’s more complicated than he thinks, especially given the practical and legal issues surrounding coercive treatment — and it’s not going to solve the problem.
When the latest homeless count in Los Angeles was released, a slight decline from a year ago was regarded by many as a positive sign. But when Eli Veitzer of Jewish Family Service L.A. dug into the numbers, he found something both unsurprising and deeply disturbing.
The number of homeless people 65 and older hadn’t gone down. It had surged, in both the city and county of Los Angeles.
“This isn’t new this year. It’s a trend over the last couple of years,” said Veitzer, whose nonprofit provides meals, housing assistance and various other services to clients. “It’s meaningful, and it’s real, and these people are at the highest risk of mortality while they’re on the streets.”
The numbers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed a 3.4% decrease in the total homeless population in the city, but a 17.6% increase among those 65 and older. The county numbers showed a 3.99% decrease overall, but an 8.59% increase in the 65 and older group.
In the city, the increase over two years was from 3,427 in 2023 to 4,680 this year — up 37%.
Reliable research has shown that among older adults who become homeless, the primary reason is the combination of poverty and high housing costs, rather than mental illness or addiction.
A man smokes inside a tent on Los Angeles’ Skid Row in March 2020.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
“They or their spouse lost their job, they or their spouse got sick, their marriage broke up or their spouse or parent died,” Dr. Margot Kushel of UC San Francisco’s Homelessness and Housing Initiative was telling me several hours before Trump’s executive order was issued.
Her team’s landmark study, released two years ago (and covered by my colleague Anita Chabria), found that nearly half the state’s homeless residents were 50 and older, and that participants in the study reported a median monthly household income of $960.
“The results … confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” Kushel said at the time.
Among the older population, Veitzer said, the jump in homelessness comes against the backdrop of federal and local budget cuts that will make it harder to reverse the trend. And harder for nonprofits, which rely in part on public funding, to keep providing group meals, home-delivered meals, transportation, social services and housing support.
“Every provider I’ve talked to in the city of L.A. is cutting meal programs,” Veitzer said. “We’re going to have to close two of our 13 meal sites, and last year we closed three. We used to have 16, and now we’re down to 11.”
On Wednesday, I went to one of the sites that’s still up and running on Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405, and met Jane Jefferies, 69. She told me she’s been camping in her vehicle since February when living with her brother became impossible for various reasons. She now pulls into a Safe Parking L.A. lot each night to bed down.
Jefferies said she collects about $1,400 a month in Social Security, which isn’t enough to get her into an apartment. At the senior center, she uses her own equipment to make buttons that she sells on the Venice boardwalk, where she can make up to $200 on a good weekend.
But that’s still not enough to cover the cost of housing, she told me, and she’s given up on government help.
“All the funding has been cut, and I don’t know if it’s because a lot of the city and state funding is subsidized by the federal government. We all know Trump hates California,” she said.
As Veitzer put it: “There’s nowhere near enough low-income senior housing in L.A. County. Wait lists open up periodically,” with far more applicants than housing units. “And then they close.”
His agency delivers a daily meal to Vancie Davis, 73, who lives in a van at Penmar Park in Venice. Her next-door neighbor is her son, Thomas Williamson, 51, who lives in his car.
Davis was in the front seat of the van when I arrived, hugging her dog, Heart. Her left leg was amputated below the knee two years ago because of an infection, she told me.
Davis said she and another son were living in a trailer in Oregon, but the owner shut off the utilities and changed the locks. She said she reached out to Williamson, who told her, “I’ve got a van for you, so you’ll have a place to live, but it’s going to be rough. And it is. It’s very, very rough.”
I’ve heard so many variations of stories like these over the years, I’ve lost count.
The magnitude that exists in the wealthiest nation in history is a disgrace, and a sad commentary on an economic system and public policy that have served to widen, rather than narrow, the inequity gap.
On Thursday, Trump’s executive order on homelessness grabbed headlines but will do nothing for Jane Jefferies or Vancie Davis and for thousands like them. We know the interventions that can work, Kushel said, but with deep cuts in the works, we’re moving in the wrong direction.
Davis’ son Thomas told Times photographer Genaro Molina about another person who lives in a vehicle and has been a neighbor of theirs in the parking lot.
She wasn’t there Wednesday, but we’ll check back.
It’s a 91-year-old woman.
[email protected]
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Denise Richards’ spouse Aaron Phypers files for divorce, seeks alimony
It seems Denise Richards and husband Aaron Phypers are going their separate ways after six years of marriage.
Phypers filed his petition to divorce actor and “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Richards on Monday, The Times has confirmed. The businessman filed his petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He cites “irreconcilable differences” for the split and lists July 4 as the date of his separation from Richards.
A representative for Richards did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
“Wild Things” actor Richards, 54, tied the knot with Phypers, 49, in 2018. They do not share children, but Richards has two adult daughters with ex-husband Charlie Sheen. She and the “Two and a Half Men” actor were married from 2002 to 2006. Richards is also the mother to a teenage daughter whom she adopted as an infant.
Phypers was previously married to “Desperate Housewives” star Nicollette Sheridan from 2015 to 2018.
Phypers is reportedly seeking spousal support from his now-estranged wife, according to court documents reviewed by The Times. In his declaration, Phypers says he has made no income since closing down a business last year and estimates Richards makes more than $250,000 a month from several business ventures including brand deals, TV and OnlyFans content. Phypers has asked to keep their assets and debts as separate property, including his power tools, motorcycle and sports car, legal documents show.
The couple began their relationship in 2017 and married a little more than a year later in a private ceremony in Malibu. They wed in September 2018, a month after Phypers finalized his divorce from Sheridan.
Though Richards has not publicly commented on Phypers’ decision to file, she made her thoughts on divorce pretty clear earlier this year. In the debut episode of her Peacock series “Denise Richards & Her Wild Things,” Richards said in a confessional interview, “I’m never getting divorced again. Even if we hate each other, I’m not gonna f— get divorced.”
Phypers responded: “No, we’ll just have different homes or something. But we’re not gonna hate each other.”
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Taiwan is worried about spying threats. That may mean deporting thousands of Chinese
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Liu Jia-yen had been living in Taiwan for more than two decades when she received notice that she was suddenly at risk of being deported.
In April, the National Immigration Agency told Liu, a 51-year-old Chinese immigrant, she had three months to provide evidence that she gave up her household registration — an official record of residence that grants benefits such as healthcare and education — in Guangxi, China. If she couldn’t find the right documents, she’d have to leave.
Liu thought she’d submitted the files long ago and called her 26-year-old daughter, Ariel Ko, in tears.
Ko, who was born and raised in Taiwan, called the immigration agency dozens of times over the next few days, unable to reach an operator. Meanwhile in China, Liu’s 80-year-old grandfather began visiting his local police station in search of old records, and her brother scoured his government contacts for anyone who could help.
Taiwanese military cadets holding Taiwan flags pose for selfies after attending the New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony outside the Presidential Palace in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 1. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has warned that no one can prevent China’s reunification with Taiwan.
(Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images)
There are tens of thousands of Chinese-born people in Taiwan, which has been increasing scrutiny of them over the past year, citing concerns about infiltration and espionage. The immigration agency says the vast majority of Chinese living in Taiwan have filed the appropriate paperwork showing that they have canceled household registration in China, but about 12,000 people are facing a scramble — similar to Liu’s — for documents.
“I understand that the government has its policies, and we can respect that,” Ko said. “But what makes us upset is that we’re just ordinary citizens. If you’re going to ask us to do something this difficult, have you considered things from our perspective?”
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has threatened to take it by force, stepping up simulated attacks in recent years. Beijing has taken a particularly harsh stance against President Lai Ching-te, whom Chinese officials have called a “dangerous separatist” because he has promoted Taiwanese independence.
Concerns about spying in Taiwan and China date back to the Chinese civil war, after which the defeated Chinese Nationalist Party, or the Kuomintang, fled to Taiwan in 1949. Eventually, tensions began to ease as the two governments slowly resumed dialogue and cooperation over the next several decades. But in recent years, both China and Taiwan have been taking unprecedented actions in the name of national security.
Last year, China said it would ratchet up the punishment for advocates of Taiwanese independence, including imposing the death penalty. Lai, who took office a year ago and has called China a “foreign hostile force,” has proposed reinstating military trials for some espionage cases, criminalizing expressions of loyalty to China within the armed forces and tightening oversight of people traveling between China and Taiwan.
In March, three members of the Taiwanese presidential security team were convicted of spying for China. Taiwan also deported three Chinese immigrants for voicing their support online for unification through military action. Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency said this is the first time that spouses of Taiwanese citizens have had their residency revoked for such reasons. More than 140,000 Chinese immigrants hold residency in Taiwan because they are married to Taiwanese citizens.
Chinese influencer YAYA (Liu Zhenya) with a white hat and members of a NGO assisting her case hold a news conference, as she complies with Taiwan’s order to leave Taiwan after her residency was revoked for posting videos advocating “One China” and “Unification with China by Force” at Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 25, 2025.
(Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said the records requirement has existed since 2004, and the recent notices were sent to ensure that those who want to stay in Taiwan can do so. But critics say that the sudden enforcement is unfair.
“It’s like our government has been asleep, like Sleeping Beauty, for 21 years. And now, all of a sudden, it wakes up and demands that Chinese spouses who’ve been living in Taiwan for so many years provide an important document from two decades ago,” said Chang Chi-kai, an opposition party legislator who is urging the administration to give Chinese spouses and their children more time.
After the public backlash, Taiwan announced additional exemptions for individuals with extenuating circumstances such as financial hardship, medical needs or safety concerns about traveling to China to search for records.
In Taiwan, people born in China are subject to different immigration laws than other nationalities. Milo Hsieh, founder of the consulting firm Safe Spaces in Taipei, says that distinction makes them more susceptible to discriminatory legal treatment, particularly in times of extreme political polarization.
“It resembles what I’m observing in the U.S. right now in Trump’s immigration crackdown, particularly on international students,” said Hsieh, referring to the hundreds of student protesters who have had their visas revoked. “They are deliberately targeting this class of individuals that are associated with a national security threat.”
Some frustrated residents say the bureaucratic bind is emblematic of long-standing discrimination.
Ko, who was born and raised in Taiwan, still remembers how her classmates used to tease her for having a mother from China, and would tell her to go back to the mainland. On social media, some were sympathetic to her mother’s struggle, while others told her to “save your fake tears,” or “if you want to be Taiwanese then follow our rules.”
Taiwan’s government has said that, according to its own polls conducted in March, more than 70% of respondents in Taiwan want officials to more thoroughly investigate whether Chinese immigrants here still hold residency or household registration in China, especially those who work in the military or public sector.
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office in July 2022, Tsai Ing-wen, president at the time, is seen through glass on board a ship during military exercises.
(Shioro Lee / Associated Press)
“If China decides to start a war, then Taiwan needs to determine what to do in that situation,” said Fan Hsin-yu, an associate professor at National Taiwan University who specializes in immigration law. “First, it has to clarify who belongs to which side, who is the enemy, and who is one of us. That’s why this process is something they feel must be finalized soon.”
Fan said legal experts are divided on whether the government is justified in its recent documentation demands. She added that the measures may even be counterproductive, since China could simply issue certification to its spies or collaborators, while those who support Taiwanese sovereignty could put themselves at risk by going to China, or otherwise be forced to leave.
“The issue is not about legality, it’s about whether this is a smart move,” she said.
Chang and his family in China
(Courtesy of Chang Chih-yuan)
Chang Chih-yuan moved to Taichung, a city in central Taiwan, at age 4 and served in Taiwan’s military. He needs to secure documents to remain here but said he feels uneasy about providing all of his personal information — including his household registration history, physical ID card and travel permit — to the police station in Guangdong, China, where his family once lived.
Ultimately, he decided that he didn’t have much choice. His Chinese mother had received the immigration notice in April, and after many sleepless nights, she decided to take a month off from her cleaning job to obtain the certificate. When Chang, 34, inquired about his own paperwork, the immigration agency told him he would probably get a similar notice later this year.
“It just made me feel like I’m still not considered a real Taiwanese person,” he said.
A man walks past a hoisted Taiwanese flag at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Oct. 15, 2024. The day before, China insisted it would never renounce the “use of force” to take control of Taiwan, after ending a day of military drills around the island.
(I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images)
Another resident who immigrated from China as a child said he has been considering emigrating to Singapore since he received his notice. His father traveled to China’s Fujian province to seek household documentation on his behalf, but he still worries that his mainland roots could put his status at risk again in the future.
“The situation now feels like they assume if you were born in China, you’re an ally of the Chinese Communist Party and you have to prove your innocence,” the 33-year-old said, requesting anonymity for fear that speaking publicly could affect his case. “I feel like I’ve been completely betrayed by my country.”
Times staff writer Yang and special correspondent Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.
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