Faced with a wave of immigration arrests, the Los Angeles City Council is seeking to sue the Trump administration for ensuring a court order prohibiting federal agents from conducting any unconstitutional or arresting city residents.
Seven council members signed a proposal to City Atti. Hydee Feldstein Soto prioritized “immediate legal action” to protect Angelenos’ civil rights, believing that such steps are needed to prevent their voters from being racialized or illegally detained.
Litigation can almost certainly exacerbate tensions between the city’s elected officials and the federal government’s ongoing raids, which were conducted in Hollywood, Paoma, Cypress Park and many other locations.
Partners Katy Yaroslavsky said she and her colleagues received reports about residents who were stopped, interrogated and detained by people claimed to be federal immigration agents, but did not show formal badges or government identity.
Yaroslavsky said she was personally informed to Latina walking on Westwood Boulevard and contacted by several men wearing masks, who asked her to show a valid ID card.
“She produced proof of identity and they let it go,” said Yaroslavsky, who represented part of the West Side.[But] In the Fourth Amendment, you cannot do so. Just because they are brown, it's unreasonable. ”
The proposal, co-authored by Yaroslavsky and Councilman Ysabel Jurado, is now heading to three council committees for consideration.
When asked about the city’s efforts, White House spokesman Abigail Jackson said in a statement that U.S. immigration and customs law enforcement officers “with the utmost integrity and professionalism.” She also rejected the claims made by Yaroslavsky and her council colleagues and worked to report on the era of their claims.
“The attacks on ice officials have increased by 500% due to this irrelevant, extremist rhetoric by Democratic politicians – the LA Times is obviously happy to amplify them,” Jackson said. “The LA Times should do some real reports, not just reflect on Democratic propaganda.”
The city's legal action preparation represents the latest work in a series of confrontations between the Trump administration and the city of Los Angeles.
During a appearance in Los Angeles on Friday, Vice President JD Vance broke into Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, accusing them of endangering the lives of federal law enforcement officers in opposition to immigration seats.
“What happened here is a tragedy,” Vance said. “You have done simple work to do the law and you have suffered riots from the governor and mayor, making it harder for them to get the job done.”
The bass fired a few hours later, saying Vance was “lied and totally nonsense” and trying to prove that wasting taxpayers' money wasted wasting in the National Guard and U.S. Marines deployed to Southern California. The Los Angeles community is indeed experiencing fear and fear, but the kind of people carrying muzzles and rifles create that pull people out of the streets.
“They refuse to provide ID cards. They are driving regular cars with tinted windows, and in some cases out of state license plates,” she said. “Who are these people… they are bounty hunters? Are they alert people? If they are federal officials, why don't they identify with themselves?”
A decision to go to court in New York City will only provide the latest example of elected officials in California taking over the Trump administration.
Newsom fought the federal government legally for the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. Atti. General Rob Bonta has filed more than a dozen other federal cases involving tariffs, federal employee layoffs, LGBTQ+ rights and other topics.
On Friday, the Council voted 9-1 to offer Feldstein Soto a fee of up to $250,000 to convene an external legal team in response to any action the Council takes next month on summer vacation.
Yaroslavsky said the council's lawsuit had nothing to do with her proposal, which could be voted by the entire council by the end of next week.
Yaroslavsky said the city’s potential legal application could be modeled in a federal lawsuit filed by United Farm workers in the state’s Central Valley earlier this year.
In this case, United Farm workers claimed that Border Patrol agents stopped, detained and arrested dozens of people of color who appeared to be farm workers or day workers, “regardless of their actual immigration status or personal circumstances.”
“The 'action returns the sender' tear the family apart and intimidates the community,” the lawsuit states. “This also violates the law. The Fourth Amendment prohibits Border Patrol agents from detaining a person, whether in a private vehicle or on foot, without reasonable doubt that the person is illegal.”
In April, a federal judge ordered federal authorities to stop illegally and had no authority to arrest in the Central Valley.
With 88 pages orders, US District. Judge Jennifer Thurston said the evidence provided by the ACLU so far, whose attorneys represent farm workers, showed that Border Patrol agents engaged in a “model and practice” of detaining people without reasonable suspicion and authority to enforce unauthorized arrests without determining flight risks.
“The evidence from the court is that the Border Patrol under the Department of Homeland Security Administration violated constitutional rights,” Thurston wrote.
Federal lawyers say the allegations cited by the plaintiff are “different examples” and do not constitute systemic behavior. They also argued that the court lacked jurisdiction in the case, a class action lawsuit filed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Border Patrol officials.
Yaroslavsky said she hopes the city seeks the same type of order Thurston issued in the Central Valley. She said the city needs to help residents who may be fearing federal law enforcement retaliation directly.
“Even if they are legally here, they are scared,” she said. “Because the Trump administration has shown that it is willing to detain and deport people legally here. So if there is such a situation, it makes sense that local government can step in on behalf of our people, then now is the time.”
