Los Angeles sues Trump administration over alleged use of 'illegal tactics' in immigration raids in the city
The Los Angeles move followed Bass's disruption of a federal operation in a public park in the city on Monday.
A demonstration against Donald Trump in Los Angeles.
Top Los Angeles officials announced Tuesday that they will join seven other nearby cities in a federal class-action lawsuit against Donald Trump's administration, alleging that the federal government is using "illegal tactics" when conducting its massive countywide immigration raids. "I don’t want to say it’s my pleasure to be here with you, because it’s not," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass commented at a press conference alongside city attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto and several Los Angeles County mayors.
The case, which was initially filed last week by different civil rights and immigration organizations in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, formally asks the court to prevent the federal government from using "unlawful tactics to achieve its intended number of arrests" in Los Angeles, including excessive use of force and racial profiling.
In response to the decision by the city's top authorities, Feldstein-Soto explained at the press conference that June 6 marked the beginning of a "completely terrifying and new reality" for the citizens of Los Angeles, as it was the day federal officers began to intensify their surveillance. "We are concerned about how they are carrying out immigration enforcement. We are not interfering with immigration enforcement," the city attorney commented.
Following the press conference, Feldstein-Soto released a statement detailing, "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. 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 cities joined by Los Angeles in the federal class-action lawsuit are West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Pico Rivera, Pasadena, Monterey Park, Culver City and Montebello.
Bass obstructed an ICE raid
In response to their actions, the Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, lambasted Bass for obstructing the operations of federal agents. "I want to ask Karen Bass, who is she protecting? Is it the MS-13 members we are going after? Is it the child rapists? Is it the drug traffickers? Which of the violent criminals who are terrorizing Los Angeles streets is she trying to protect?"
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