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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Tuesday that the city will continue to adhere to sanctuary cities’ policies in response to a lawsuit by the Trump administration that alleges LA is obstructing immigration enforcement projects.
Bus spoke at a press conference Tuesday morning, the day after the White House filed the lawsuit. It claims that Los Angeles created a lawless environment with sanctuary policies, prohibiting local police from sharing information about people without legal status. Legal measures come in daily immigration enforcement work within the city, including in-home facilities parking, car washes, residential areas and other locations.
Bass said LA will continue to defend its policy and city ordinances.
“It’s essentially a full attack on Los Angeles,” Bass said. “The lawsuit is an attempt to overturn the will of the city, calling for a long-standing policy to protect immigrant Angelenos. We are immigrant cities that have been instituting policies for decades. Ironically, the law originally felt that the newly arrived migrant population, which were felt safe by criminals.”
It was not immediately clear whether the city was preparing legal action in response to the lawsuit.
The U.S. District Court lawsuit says Los Angeles’ “sanctuary city” ordinance is hampering the White House’s efforts to crack down on what is called the “illicit immigration crisis.” This is the latest in a series of lawsuits against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, including New York, New Jersey and Colorado, limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Los Angeles policies prohibit urban resources from being used to enforce immigration. The court’s filing calls the city’s ordinance “illegal” and calls it prevents it from being enforced.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondy Chad Mizzell released the latest lawsuit, saying the administration would not tolerate interference in federal government repression.
“We will continue to enforce Los Angeles federal immigration laws, whether or not the city’s government or residents agree,” Misell said in a social media post on Platform X.
A message has been sent to Mayor Karen Bass’s office for comment on the lawsuit.
A spokesman for City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto said the city’s ordinance was “carefully drafted” and complied with federal laws and constitutional principles that separate state and federal powers.
“Our city remains committed to standing up for our constitutional rights and the rights of our residents,” spokesman Iver Pine said.
Sanctuary cities are cities that restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agents to prevent undocumented immigrants from being deported.
A member of the Hugo Soto Martinez Council, co-author of Los Angeles Sanctuary Act, said Monday that the city will do everything with its strength to protect its residents.
In a statement he said “Trump is tearing his family apart,” and tried to force cities and towns across the country to help him carry out his agenda.
“We refuse to stand up and Donald Trump will deport innocent families,” he added.
The Los Angeles lawsuit alleges that Trump “won the presidential election on a platform that deports millions of illegal immigrants.” Over the past three weeks, immigration agents flocked to Southern California, arresting hundreds of people and urged protests.
Tens of thousands of people attended a rally over the immigrant raid and subsequent deployment of the National Guard and Marines. Los Angeles police have arrested more than 100 people on a range of charges, ranging from throwing rocks at federal officials to setting fire to Waymo cars with autonomous driving technology.
“The practical consequences for Los Angeles of refusing to work with federal immigration authorities since June 6, 2025 have been lawlessness, riots, looting and vandalism,” the court filing states.
On June 18, the mayor lifted a curfew that he imposed a week ago to prevent vandalism and break-in during night protests. The demonstrations were largely concentrated in several downtown blocks, home to several federal and local government buildings.
California has 10.6 million immigrants, more than any other state, according to the California Institute of Public Policy. The Pew Research Center estimates that 1.8 million immigrants in California have not been documented in 2022, down from 2.8 million in 2007.
Most of the state’s immigrant population is in large coastal counties such as Los Angeles County, where around 3.5 million people, or around 35% of the county’s population, are immigrants. According to the report, Los Angeles County has around 809,000 undocumented immigrants, with a population of 9.6 million.
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