In the wake of violent protests and ongoing ICE resistance in Los Angeles, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the City, the City Council, and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass over local sanctuary city policies.
The lawsuit alleges that L.A.’s sanctuary city policies are illegal under federal law and were enacted shortly after President Donald Trump’s reelection to impede the federal government’s enforcement of its immigration laws, according to the DOJ.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in California’s Central District federal court by the Trump administration. Officials maintain that the government’s efforts to address the illegal immigration crisis “are hindered by Sanctuary Cities such as the City of Los Angeles, which refuse to cooperate or share information, even when requested, with federal immigration authorities.”
“Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement the DOJ posted on X. “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.”
The Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Sanctuary City Policies In Los Angeles, California
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— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) June 30, 2025
In the complaint, the federal government asserts that the city’s open resistance to immigration enforcement has contributed to the recent civil unrest and violence against federal agents and LA police officers during rowdy and chaotic demonstrations.
After an immigration raid in the fashion district on June 6, anti-ICE protestors took to the streets and retaliated against federal agents and local officers by throwing rocks and commercial grade fireworks, setting police cars and Waymo taxis on fire, blocking the 101 Freeway, and defacing federal buildings and private businesses.
Over the last month, immigration agents have arrested more than 1,600 illegal immigrants, many with criminal records. According to the lawsuit, L.A.’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities since June 6 has resulted in “lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
“The situation became so dire that the Federal Government deployed the California National Guard and United States Marines to quell the chaos,” the lawsuit states. “A direct confrontation with federal immigration authorities was the inevitable outcome of the Sanctuary City law.”
In response, Trump deployed the California National Guard and the United States Marines to quell the chaos and protect federal buildings. His political nemesis, California’s leftist Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, then filed a lawsuit claiming Trump overstepped his authority and violated the U.S. Constitution.
The unrest continued to erupt in the downtown Los Angeles area, Paramount, Compton and other communities for several weeks. LA officials seemingly supported the violence, including Newsom, Bass and Cudahy Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez, who posted a video on TikTok encouraging local street gangs to defend their territory and organize against ICE agents.
Los Angeles officially declared itself a sanctuary city last November after Trump, then president-elect, vowed to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants. The nation’s second-largest city is home to more than 1.35 million immigrants, comprising over 34% of its population, local outlet KTLA 5 News reported.
The ordinance bars the use of city resources or personnel to assist federal immigration enforcement. That means Los Angeles police cannot assist in federal immigration efforts due to the sanctuary policies, leaving ICE agents outmanned during immigration raids where protestors swarmed them and tried to block their vehicles and assault them.
Under the ordinance, city employees and city property may not be used to “investigate, cite, arrest, hold, transfer or detain any person” for the purpose of immigration enforcement. An exception is made for law enforcement investigating serious offenses.
The ordinance bars city employees from seeking out information about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status unless it is needed to provide a city service. They also must treat data or information that can be used to trace a person’s citizenship or immigration status as confidential, the LA Times reported.
On her first day in office, Bondi instructed the Department’s Civil Division to identify state and local laws, policies, and practices that facilitate violations of federal immigration laws or impede lawful federal immigration operations, and, where appropriate, to take legal action to challenge such laws, policies, and practices.
Monday’s lawsuit is the latest in a series of lawsuits brought by the Civil Division targeting illegal sanctuary city policies across the country, including in New York and New Jersey, according to the DOJ.
The lawsuit holds the City of Los Angeles accountable for deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration law.
“The United States Constitution’s Supremacy Clause prohibits the city from picking and choosing which federal laws will be enforced and which will not,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “By assisting removable aliens in evading federal law enforcement, the city’s unlawful and discriminatory ordinance has contributed to a lawless and unsafe environment that this lawsuit will help end.”
The lawsuit is the latest in an ongoing political feud between Trump and Newsom and Bass, which started during his first term and reignited following the devastating wildfires that swept Southern California in December.
Trump has repeatedly called Newsom and Bass incompetent and blamed them for not releasing water into the southern portions of the state. He’s also blasted them for failing to be proactive about wildfire forest management and preventing homeowners from accessing their properties following the fires.
