The Trump administration is suing the city of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council, it was announced Monday.
Trump sues LA, Mayor Karen Bass
According to the lawsuit, filed in the Central District of California, the administration is suing over LA’s “sanctuary city” policies, alleging in federal court that the ordinance violates the Constitution by “thwarting” immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit contends that the sanctuary laws — in which local law enforcement officials refuse to assist immigration enforcement efforts — are illegal, and expressly designed to “obstruct the federal government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe.”
The lawsuit notes that President Donald Trump “campaigned and won the presidential election on a platform of deporting the millions of illegal immigrants the previous administration permitted, through its open borders policy, to enter the country unlawfully.”
“Days after now President Trump won the Nov. 5, 2024 election, the Los Angeles City Council, wishing to thwart the will of the American people regarding deportations, began the process of codifying into law its sanctuary city policies.”
What this could mean for LA residents
This lawsuit puts LA’s sanctuary city status in legal jeopardy.
If a judge sides with the Trump administration, city workers, including LAPD, could be forced to cooperate with ICE — sharing information, allowing access to detainees, or assisting with immigration enforcement.
Immigration raids could increase within city limits, even in places previously shielded under LA’s policy.
Local officials may lose the ability to set limits on federal operations — especially in city-run facilities like jails.
For now, LA’s ordinance still stands, but this case could reshape how immigration enforcement plays out on the ground — and how much protection illegal migrants can expect from local agencies.
In a statement to Fox News, Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed sanctuary policies for the recent violence surrounding federal immigration raids in the Southland.
“Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” she said. “Jurisdictions like Los Angeles that flout federal law by prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens are undermining law enforcement at every level — it ends under President Trump.”
Immigration crackdown continues
Federal agents continue to ramp up an immigration crackdown after receiving directives from Trump to set up their efforts in Democratic-run cities.
Those raids were preceded by Trump deploying thousands of additional National Guard troops to the area in response to massive anti-ICE protests across the region.
Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Trump over the move, and a lower court originally sided with Newsom, saying Trump’s move was likely unconstitutional.
The recent anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles and Orange counties erupted following widespread anger over the agency’s enforcement tactics that began on Friday, June 6.
In addition to downtown LA, Santa Ana also became a hot spot for demonstrators where some protesters have clashed with law enforcement.
Community leaders reported incidents of ICE appearing at elementary school graduations, disrupting the legitimate immigration processes at various courthouses, and aggressively raiding workplaces and locations like Home Depot. These actions, perceived as arbitrary and invasive, sparked outrage among residents and galvanized the public into widespread demonstrations across Los Angeles County.
The filing seeks to have Los Angeles’ policies declared invalid based on the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which “prohibits the city and its officials from obstructing the federal government’s ability to enforce laws that Congress has enacted or to take actions entrusted to it by the Constitution,” the suit states.
