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Facing a wave of immigrant arrests, the Los Angeles City Council is considering suing the Trump administration to secure a court order that prohibits federal agents from suspending or arresting citizens.
Seven councillors have signed a proposal asking city Atti. Heidifeldsteinsoto prioritizes “immediate legal action” to protect Angelenos’ civil rights, arguing that such steps are necessary to ensure that they are not racially profiled or illegally detained.
The lawsuit will almost certainly strengthen tensions between city elected officials and the federal government over the ongoing attacks in Hollywood, Pacoima, Cypress Park and many other locations.
Councillor Katy Yaroslavsky, who co-authored the proposal, said she and her colleagues were stopped, interrogated and reported by residents who claim to be federal immigration agents but who did not provide official badges or government identities.
Yaroslavski said he was approached by several men in masks who had been personally informed of a Latina walking down Westwood Boulevard recently and requested to show a valid ID.
“She produced her ID and they let her go,” said Jaroslavski, who represents part of the West Side. “[But] You cannot do that under the Fourth Amendment. It is not a reasonable doubt that they are non-citizens just because they are brown. ”
The proposal, co-authored by Yaroslavsky and councillor Isabel Jurad, now heads to three council committees for consideration.
White House spokesman Abigail Jackson, when asked about the city’s efforts, said U.S. immigration and customs enforcement officers will act “with maximum integrity and professionalism.” She also treated the era to push back claims by Jaroslavsky and her council colleagues and report their claims.
“The attacks on ice officers have increased by 500% due to this unharmed extremist rhetoric from Democratic politicians. The LA Times are clearly pleased to amplify,” Jackson said. “The LA Times need to make actual reports rather than reverse Democrat propaganda.”
The city’s preparation for legal action represents the latest in a series of conflicts between the Trump administration and the city of Los Angeles.
On an appearance in Los Angeles Friday, Vice President JD Vance accused the government of being torn apart by Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass of putting the lives of federal law enforcement officials at risk by opposing the immigration sweep.
“What happened here was a tragedy,” Vance said. “You had people who did the simple job of enforcing the law, and you had rioters who lay eggs for the governor and mayor, making it difficult for them to do their jobs.”
Bass shot back hours later, saying Vance was “a lie and totally nonsense,” and attempted to justify taxpayer dollar waste in deployments of the National Guard and the US Marines into Southern California. While LA neighborhoods certainly experience fear and fear, the kinds caused by men in masks carrying guns and rifles that have pulled people away from the streets said.
“They refuse to give them IDs. They drive regular cars with windows and sometimes out of state license plates,” she said. “Who are these people… are they hunters of grace? Are they on guard? If they are federal officials, why don’t they identify themselves?”
The city’s decision to go to court will only provide the latest example of California elected officials taking over the Trump administration.
Newsom is trapped in a legal battle with the federal government over the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. Atty. General Rob Bonta has filed more than 12 other federal lawsuits dealing with tariffs, federal employee layoffs, LGBTQ+ rights and other topics.
On Friday, the council voted 9-1 to take on an outside legal team to provide Feldsteinsoto with up to $250,000 to respond to measures taken by the federal government next month, when the council was on its summer vacation.
Yaroslavsky said the council’s lawsuit was not related to her proposal, and that the votes could be received from the entire council by the end of next week.
The city’s potential legal application could be modelled after a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year by United Farm Workers in the state’s Central Valley. Yaroslavsky said.
In that case, United farm workers alleged that Border Patrol agents stopped, detained and arrested dozens of people of color who were believed to be farm workers or daytime workers “regardless of actual or individual circumstances.”
“It tore families back to sender,” and terrorized the community,” the lawsuit states. “It also violated the law. The fourth amendment prohibits Border Patrol agents from detaining people without a reasonable doubt that they are illegally in the country, whether by car or on foot.”
In April, a federal judge ordered federal authorities to suspend illegal suspensions and warrantless arrests in Central Valley.
88 pages of order, US dist. Judge Jennifer Thurston said the evidence presented so far by the American Civil Liberties Union, where lawyers represent farm workers, showed that Border Patrol agents were engaged in “patterns and practices” of detaining people without reasonable doubt and carrying out warrantless arrests without determining flight risk.
“The evidence before the court is that Border Patrol agents based on DHS authorities engaged in conduct that violated established constitutional rights,” Thurston wrote.
Federal lawyers said the allegations cited by the plaintiffs were “a different example” and did not constitute systematic action. They also argued that the court had no jurisdiction to address the lawsuit filed as a class action against Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem and U.S. Border Patrol officials.
Yaroslavski said he wanted the same type of order issued by Thurston of Central Valley. She said the city needs to help federal law enforcement retaliation be too scared of retaliation.
“They are afraid, even if they are legally here,” she said. “The Trump administration has shown legally that it is willing to detain and deport people here, so if there was an example in which it makes sense for local governments to intervene on our behalf, then now is the time.”
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