Faced with a wave of immigration arrests, the Los Angeles City Council is looking to sue the Trump administration to secure a court order prohibiting federal agents from carrying out any unconstitutional stops or arrests of city residents.
Seven council members signed a proposal asking City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto to prioritize “immediate legal action” to protect the civil rights of Angelenos, arguing that such a step is needed to keep their constituents from being racially profiled or unlawfully detained.
A lawsuit would almost certainly intensify the tensions between the city’s elected officials and the federal government over the ongoing raids, which have been carried out in Hollywood, Pacoima, Cypress Park and many other locations.
Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who co-authored the proposal, said she and her colleagues have received reports of residents who were stopped, questioned and detained by individuals claiming to be federal immigration agents but did not display an official badge or government identification.
Yaroslavsky said she was personally informed about a Latina who was recently walking on Westwood Boulevard and was approached by several men in masks who demanded that she show a valid ID.
“She produced identification and they let her go,” said Yaroslavsky, who represents part of the Westside. “[But] you can’t do that under the 4th Amendment. It’s not reasonable suspicion that they’re noncitizens just because they’re brown.”
The proposal, which was co-authored by Yaroslavsky and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, now heads to three council committees for consideration.
Asked about the city’s efforts, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers act “with the utmost integrity and professionalism.” She also pushed back on the assertions made by Yaroslavsky and her council colleagues — and chided The Times for reporting on their claims.
“Attacks against ICE officers have increased 500% because of this unhinged, extremist rhetoric from Democrat politicians — that the LA Times is apparently happy to amplify,” Jackson said. “The LA Times should do some real reporting, instead of just regurgitating Democrat propaganda.”
The city’s preparations for legal action represent the latest in a series of confrontations between the Trump administration and the city of Los Angeles.
On Friday, during an appearance in Los Angeles, Vice President JD Vance ripped into Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, accusing them of endangering the lives of federal law enforcement officers by speaking out against the immigration sweeps.
“What happened here was a tragedy,” Vance said. “You had people who were doing the simple job of enforcing the law, and you had rioters, egged on by the governor and the mayor, making it harder for them to do their job.”
Bass shot back hours later, saying Vance was “spewing lies and utter nonsense” and attempting to justify the waste of taxpayer dollars on the deployment of the National Guard and the U.S. Marines to Southern California. L.A. neighborhoods are indeed experiencing fear and terror, but the kind caused by men in masks carrying guns and rifles who are pulling people off the street, she said.
“They refuse to give ID. They’re driving regular cars with tinted windows and in some cases out-of-state license plates,” she said. “Who are these people … are they bounty hunters? Are they vigilantes? If they’re federal officials, why is it that they do not identify themselves?”
A decision by the city to go to court would offer only the latest example of California elected officials taking on the Trump administration.
Newsom is locked in a legal battle with the federal government over the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has filed more than a dozen other federal cases dealing with tariffs, federal employee layoffs, LGBTQ+ rights and other topics.
On Friday, the council voted 9-1 to provide Feldstein Soto up to $250,000 to bring on an outside legal team to respond to any actions taken by the federal government over the next month, when the council is on its summer recess.
Yaroslavsky said that council action is not connected to her proposal, which could receive a vote from the full council by the end of next week.
The city’s potential legal filing could be modeled after a federal lawsuit filed by United Farm Workers in the state’s Central Valley earlier this year, Yaroslavsky said.
In that case, United Farm Workers alleged that border patrol agents stopped, detained and arrested dozens of people of color who appeared to be farm workers or day laborers, “regardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances.”
“ ‘Operation Return to Sender’ tore families apart and terrorized the community,” the lawsuit states. “It also violated the law. The Fourth Amendment prohibits Border Patrol agents from detaining a person, whether in a private vehicle or on foot, without reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country unlawfully.”
In April, a federal judge ordered federal authorities to halt illegal stops and warrantless arrests in the Central Valley.
In an 88-page order, U.S. Dist. Judge Jennifer Thurston said the evidence presented so far by the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawyers represent the farm workers, showed that Border Patrol agents had engaged in a “pattern and practice” of detaining people without reasonable suspicion and executing warrantless arrests without determining flight risk.
“The evidence before the Court is that Border Patrol agents under DHS authority engaged in conduct that violated well-established constitutional rights,” Thurston wrote.
Lawyers for the federal government said the allegations cited by the plaintiff were “disparate examples” and did not constitute systemic behavior. They also argued that the court lacks jurisdiction to take up the case, which was filed as a class action lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and officials with U.S. Border Patrol.
Yaroslavsky said she wants the city to seek the same type of order that was issued by Thurston in the Central Valley. The city, she said, needs to help residents who may be too frightened of retaliation by federal law enforcement to file a challenge directly.
“Even if they’re here legally, they’re afraid,” she said. “Because the Trump administration has shown it’s willing to detain and deport people who are here legally. So if ever there were an instance where it made sense for local government to step in on behalf of our people, now is the time.”
