Letters to the Editor: Ship Fire, Tough Lessons, ICE & Health Worker Strain

From Explosion to Recovery: Harbor Partners Rally During Cargo Ship Fire

When a crisis strikes, it reveals the character of a community. The major fire aboard the M/V ONE Henry Hudson at Yusen Terminals in the Port of Los Angeles, beginning November 21, 2025, tested our systems, partnerships, and resolve. What it ultimately revealed was the extraordinary professionalism and selflessness of those who responded.

The entire team at Yusen Terminals offers our deepest thanks to the first responders and agencies who worked tirelessly to protect lives, property, and the environment. The U.S. Coast Guard, Los Angeles and Long Beach Fire Departments, LA Port Police, and our local, state, and federal partners demonstrated seamless coordination under complex conditions. We also appreciated the on-site support of Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Tim McOsker. The professionalism of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Yusen Terminals team was critical to maintaining safety and advancing recovery.

This was not a routine response. The fire, believed to have originated from an electrical source below deck and complicated by a mid-deck explosion, required sustained, multi-day firefighting. Los Angeles Port Pilots escorted the vessel to anchorage for continued firefighting and later returned it to berth so recovery, cargo offloading, and investigation could proceed under U.S. Coast Guard supervision.

Decisive actions were taken to protect the surrounding communities of San Pedro and Wilmington. Shelter-in-place orders and roadway closures were difficult but necessary steps taken with public safety as the guiding priority, and they were lifted without any reported injuries.

Moments like these remind us that resilience is built through partnership, preparation, and courage. To every firefighter, officer, mariner, investigator, and support professional involved: thank you.

Alan McCorkle, CEO, Yusen Terminals

Us, the Immigrant and the Stranger by Sophie Schoenfield, Jan. 22

Sophie Schoenfield’s recent guest column was one of the most beautifully written and humbling stories I’ve read in quite awhile. She articulated her personal history, and pain, so well (so to speak), which reads as a cautionary tale to those of us who have only begun to experience the shit show we, in this country, are now only beginning to be confronted with.

Thank you, Sophie, for your strong and compassionate perspective. We, the “privileged” in this country, have much to learn from perspectives such as yours.

Kudos to RLN for publishing her story, and doing great work!

Sincerely,

Sean Doyle

Corvallis, Oregon

Open letter re ICE

Dear Decision Maker,

As your constituent, I am appealing to you to act on behalf of the millions of people subject to random and ruthless federal law enforcement actions. No one feels safe, no one is safe. Nor can we count on the courts to employ the US Constitution as a safeguard against state sponsored violence. Without exception, any of us can be physically assaulted, detained, denied access to legal representation, transported across state and national borders. In other words, simply disappeared into a Kafkaesque system meant to exert absolute social control.

Today I learned that Ms.Tipan-Echeverria, a two-year-old American citizen, was deported to Honduras with her mother after being detained in Minnesota, transported and held for days in a hotel room in Texas, and denied the right to contact relatives or legal counsel.

Like five year old Liam Ramos and seven-year-old Diana Crespo, who now reside in ICE’s South Texas Family Residential Center, Ms.Tipan-Echeverria has had her young life shattered due entirely to an agenda which sees her as expendable.

Today, in this hellscape, I worry that my son could be at risk. Is camping alone on the Southern California coast, something a 42-year-old Native American can do these days? Will his CA driver’s license, U.S. birth certificate, and social security card even matter? If he asserts his constitutional rights, will he be detained and will this be justified by a charge of resisting arrest? Could he be shot or simply disappeared?Believe me when I say that I am not the only mother who has these thoughts and fears. The history of this nation and its capacity to justify the use of force, be it in war or in our streets, is no comfort.

So at this juncture, stand up and speak out. Defund ICE. Do what you can to remove all federal immigration enforcement from our communities, including Greg Bovino, who is reportedly returning to his previous job in El Centro. Act to restrain state and local law enforcement from aiding and abetting this campaign to racially profile, to politically profile, and to harm and abuse the most vulnerable among us. Demand basic human rights for all, without exception. Do not limit your efforts or concerns to those who are your voting base, or are white, or are U.S. born, or who immigrated “the right way” or do not say “from the river to the sea” or have no criminal record. Doing so has brought us to this exact time and place where none of us feel safe because none of us are.

Anna Christensen, Long Beach,

Health Workers Burn Out

Regarding the article “Health Workers Cite Burnout, Unsafe Conditions In Kaiser Strike Threat” (Random Lengths News, January 22), I am writing to express my support for the demands of the striking workers. As a Kaiser patient since 2007, I have seen the importance of their work firsthand and believe their concerns deserve to be addressed. I find that often the Kaiser (Cadillac location) practice is to promise more than they plan to deliver.

1. Juan Johnson

Los Angeles