Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Tuesday that the city will join a class-action lawsuit aimed at halting what she described as “unconstitutional reckless raids” being conducted by federal immigration agents across Southern California.
Bass, a Democrat, accused the Trump administration of using Los Angeles as a political “test case.”
The mayor claims that federal immigration enforcement operations in the city are part of a broader strategy to ignore the Constitution and push a political agenda.
“The City of Los Angeles, along with the County, cities, organizations, and Angelenos across L.A., is taking the Administration to court to stop its clear violation of the United States Constitution and federal law,” Bass declared in a press release.
“We will not be intimidated – we are making Los Angeles the example of how people who believe in American values will stand together and stand united.”
The lawsuit, led by the ACLU of California and left-wing nonprofit Public Counsel, alleges Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are carrying out racially motivated raids that disproportionately target migrants with “brown skin.”
It also falsely claims illegal aliens are being detained in facilities lacking basic humane conditions, such as food, legal access, or beds.
Homeland Security officials strongly rejected the claims, however.
In a statement, DHS said allegations of racial profiling and abuse were “disgusting and categorically false.”
Still, Los Angeles officials are pressing ahead.
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, who is leading the city’s legal effort, said the lawsuit is intended to send a message to the federal government that it cannot normalize large-scale immigration enforcement operations in urban communities.
“The federal government has concentrated thousands of armed immigration agents, many of whom lack visible identification, and military troops in our communities, conducting unconstitutional raids, roundups and anonymous detentions, sowing fear and chaos among our residents,” Soto said.
“Today’s motion to intervene shows we will not stand by and allow these raids to continue or to become the standard operating procedure in our communities.”
The underlying lawsuit, Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, targets the Department of Homeland Security and seeks an emergency halt to enforcement operations across Los Angeles.
Plaintiffs are also demanding that migrants currently detained be granted immediate access to legal counsel and removed from what the suit calls “dungeon-like” facilities.
Bass’s statement referenced a recent federal operation in the city’s MacArthur Park, where armed agents and military-style vehicles were seen patrolling streets near a children’s summer camp.
Her office claimed the federal government’s “seemingly sole purpose” was to “bring fear to Los Angeles.”
The mayor added that she and other local officials “will not accept the presence of federalized troops and military-style vehicles on their streets” and pledged to use “every resource available” to bring an end to what she called “reckless raids.”
The lawsuit is the latest escalation in a broader standoff between local progressive governments and the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The Biden-era DHS, now under Trump’s leadership, has ramped up deportations and enforcement actions in sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration laws.
ICE officials have not commented directly on the lawsuit but reiterated that all operations are carried out in accordance with federal law and national security guidelines.
As the case moves forward, the question of how much authority cities like Los Angeles have to interfere with federal immigration enforcement could take center stage in the courts.
The case may set the tone for future clashes between local officials and the Trump administration.
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