'Operation Trojan Horse' immigration raid involving Penske rental truck draws pushback
Los Angeles officials said they are considering "all legal options" after federal agents were seen jumping out of a Penske rental truck during a controversial immigration raid.
More than a dozen undocumented immigrants were arrested near a Home Depot in Westlake on Wednesday, federal officials said, in what was dubbed "Operation Trojan Horse."
The operation came days after a federal appeals court upheld a temporary restraining order against indiscriminate federal immigration stops and arrests in seven Southern California counties, including Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the city is "considering all legal options" following the raid, which she claimed "looks like the exact same thing that we were seeing" before the temporary restraining order was issued.
"It's hard for me to believe that that raid was consistent with the court order that said you cannot racially profile, you cannot racially discriminate," the mayor said during a press conference Wednesday.
"We are not going to accept this situation, which was why we had a court decision and a temporary restraining order, and now that needs to be enforced and that needs to be upheld," she said.
The temporary restraining order was issued in July as part of a class action lawsuit seeking to end what it alleges are unlawful immigration stops and arrests. A federal appeals court upheld the order on Aug. 1, in what Bass called a "victory for the City of Los Angeles."
Mohammad Tajsar, a senior staff attorney at ACLU Foundation of Southern California, which represents plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said they are investigating the incident at the Home Depot and other raids reported in the region since Saturday. In a statement, he said "the evidence available so far raises serious concerns that the federal government may be in violation of" the order.
The United Farm Workers, one of the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, also said it was "deeply troubled" by the raid.
"While more investigation is needed, we have serious concerns that the federal govt may be in violation of the federal judge's July TRO," the organization said on social media.
A DHS spokesperson said Border Patrol agents conducted a "targeted raid" at the Home Depot. The operation, dubbed Trojan Horse, "resulted in the arrest of 16 illegal aliens from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua," the spokesperson said.
When reached for comment on the pushback to the raid, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson referred ABC News to the DHS spokesperson's statement and said no additional information was available at this time.
Acting Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli issued a warning following the Home Depot raid.
"For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again," Essayli said in a statement on social media accompanied by footage of the raid. "The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable, and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government."
During the Wednesday morning raid, Border Patrol agents were seen on video coming out of the back of a Penske moving truck in a parking lot and detaining day laborers.
Following video and reports of the raid, Penske chided what it called the "improper" use of one of its trucks.
"Penske strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances," the truck rental company said in a statement. "The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today’s operation and did not authorize this. Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future."
