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.<\/p>\n
Seven council members signed a proposal<\/a> asking City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto to prioritize \u201cimmediate legal action\u201d 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.<\/p>\n A lawsuit would almost certainly intensify the tensions<\/a> between the city\u2019s elected officials and the federal government over the ongoing raids, which have been carried out in Hollywood, Pacoima, Cypress Park and many other locations. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cShe produced identification and they let her go,\u201d said Yaroslavsky, who represents part of the Westside. \u201c[But] you can\u2019t do that under the 4th Amendment. It\u2019s not reasonable suspicion that they\u2019re noncitizens just because they\u2019re brown.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposal, which was co-authored by Yaroslavsky and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, now heads to three council committees for consideration.<\/p>\n Asked about the city\u2019s efforts, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers act \u201cwith the utmost integrity and professionalism.\u201d She also pushed back on the assertions made by Yaroslavsky and her council colleagues \u2014 and chided The Times for reporting on their claims.<\/p>\n \u201cAttacks against ICE officers have increased 500% because of this unhinged, extremist rhetoric from Democrat politicians \u2014 that the LA Times is apparently happy to amplify,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cThe LA Times should do some real reporting, instead of just regurgitating Democrat propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n The city\u2019s preparations for legal action represent the latest in a series of confrontations<\/a> between the Trump administration and the city of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n On Friday, during an appearance in Los Angeles<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened here was a tragedy,\u201d Vance said. \u201cYou 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Bass shot back hours later<\/a>, saying Vance was \u201cspewing lies and utter nonsense\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThey refuse to give ID. They\u2019re driving regular cars with tinted windows and in some cases out-of-state license plates,\u201d she said. \u201cWho are these people … are they bounty hunters? Are they vigilantes? If they\u2019re federal officials, why is it that they do not identify themselves?\u201d<\/p>\n A decision by the city to go to court would offer only the latest example of California elected officials taking on the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Newsom is locked in a legal battle<\/a> with the federal government over the deployment<\/a> of the National Guard in Los Angeles. Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has filed more than a dozen other federal cases<\/a> dealing with tariffs, federal employee layoffs, LGBTQ+ rights and other topics.<\/p>\n On Friday, the council voted 9-1<\/a> to provide Feldstein Soto up to $250,000<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s potential legal filing could be modeled after a federal lawsuit<\/a> filed by United Farm Workers in the state\u2019s Central Valley earlier this year, Yaroslavsky said.<\/p>\n 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, \u201cregardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c \u2018Operation Return to Sender\u2019 tore families apart and terrorized the community,\u201d the lawsuit states. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n In April, a federal judge ordered federal authorities<\/a> to halt illegal stops and warrantless arrests in the Central Valley. <\/p>\n