WASHINGTON – The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on June 30 against the city of Los Angeles to end policies that restrict cooperation with President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration laws.
The lawsuit comes after sometimes violent protests in Los Angeles earlier in the month against federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, which led Trump to mobilize the National Guard.
It is the latest to challenge so-called “sanctuary” policies, in which state or local law enforcement do not collaborate with ICE, which the Trump administration contends are unlawful. The department has also sued New York state and filed criminal charges against a Wisconsin judge over immigration enforcement. It also sued federal judges in Maryland on June 25, for blocking deportation orders.
“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.
“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,” Bondi added.
ICE raids earlier this month in Los Angeles sparked several days of protests that included people hurling rocks at federal officials and setting fire to cars. Attacks on federal officials are up 500%, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. But she and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have opposed Trump’s tougher immigration enforcement and said the federal mobilization enflamed tensions.
“Unmarked cars. Masked men with guns. People being snatched off the street.,” Bass said on social media June 28. “This isn’t law and order − it’s fear and chaos in Los Angeles. And it’s deliberate.”
Protesters have resorted to clanging pots and pans outside a hotel were ICE agents were staying, to prevent them from sleeping. The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team said they denied federal agents access to the stadium’s parking lot June 20, although federal officials said there was no enforcement action.
But federal officials said they would continue strict enforcement of immigration laws, one of Trump’s top domestic priorities.
“We will keep enforcing federal immigration law in Los Angeles, whether or not the city’s government or residents agree with it,” Chad Mizelle, the department’s chief of staff, said on social media. “And we will not tolerate any interference with the federal government’s duty to enforce the law.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ sues Los Angeles over ‘sanctuary’ immigration policies
