Department of Justice suing Los Angeles over sanctuary city policy
The Department of Justice is suing the city of Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policy, alleging it interferes with the enforcement of federal immigration laws, officials announced on Monday.
"The challenged law and policies of the City of Los Angeles 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 states.
The lawsuit is targeting Ordinance Number 188441, which prohibits city resources, including personnel, from being used for immigration enforcement. The DOJ is seeking a permanent injunction barring the city from enforcing the ordinance.
The Los Angeles City Council and the city's mayor, Karen Bass, are named among the defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in California's Central District federal court.
Bass called the lawsuit an "all-out assault against Los Angeles" and an "attempt to overturn the will of the city."
"We will defend our ordinance and continue to defend policies that reflect the long-standing values of our city," Bass said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "We know that Los Angeles is the test case, and we will stand strong. And we do so because the people snatched off city streets and chased through parking lots are our co-workers, our neighbors, our family members, and they are Angelenos."
The mayor added she will not be "intimidated by these tactics" and will "always protect Angelenos against the unwarranted and cruel actions of this administration."
The lawsuit comes after President Donald Trump deployed National Guardsmen and Marines to the city, over the objections of local and state leaders, in response to protests against the government's immigration crackdown.
"Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement Monday. "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."
Bill Essayli, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement that the lawsuit holds Los Angeles "accountable for deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration law."
The ordinance in question was signed into law by Bass on Dec. 9, 2024.
"Especially in the face of growing threats to the immigrant communities here in Los Angeles, I stand with the people of this city," Bass said in a statement in November 2024 in the wake of the presidential election while calling on members of the LA City Council to pass the ordinance. "This moment demands urgency. Immigrant protections make our communities stronger and our city better."
Bondi has instructed the DOJ to take legal action against state and local sanctuary city policies in the U.S. that allegedly impede federal immigration operations.
Earlier this month, the DOJ filed a complaint against the state of New York over a law that prohibits federal officers from making arrests at state courthouses without a warrant signed by a judge, claiming it "purposefully shields dangerous aliens from being lawfully detained."
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who co-sponsored the 2020 law, called the lawsuit "baseless and frivolous."
"To avoid any conflict with federal law or the federal government's immigration authority, the law does not apply to federal courts or immigration courts, and allows for arrests when ICE has actual, valid judicial warrants," he said in a statement. "At a time when masked ICE officials are roaming the state and lawlessly detaining New Yorkers without any due process, the law preserves access to justice and participation in the judicial process."
In May, the DOJ sued the New Jersey cities of Newark, Hoboken, Jersey City and Paterson, alleging their sanctuary policies "are a frontal assault on the federal immigration laws and the federal authorities that administer them."
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka called the lawsuit "absurd."
"We are not standing in the way of public safety," he said in a statement. "We are upholding the Constitution, providing oversight, and following the laws and guidelines of the State of New Jersey."
