Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass bemoaned the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging the city’s sanctuary status and attacking its immigration policies.
“The lawsuit is an attempt to overturn the will of the city, calling for a halt to long-standing policy to protect immigrant Angelenos. We are a city of immigrants who have had policies in place for decades,” Bass said during a press conference.
“Ironically, originally, the law was for public safety, so the newly arrived immigrant population that was being preyed on by criminals would feel safe in reporting crimes to law enforcement. As the City Attorney said yesterday, our city remains committed to standing up for our constitutional rights and the rights of our residents,” she added.
On Monday, the Trump administration sued Los Angeles, looking to challenge its so-called sanctuary city policy and saying the stance bars immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit is the fourth from Trump administration challenging sanctuary city policies; however, the Los Angeles suit comes in the wake of a series of widespread immigration raids that prompted protests and clashes with law enforcement.
“The City of Los Angeles’ Sanctuary City laws are illegal. Those laws and policies are designed to and in fact do interfere with and discriminate against the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution,” the Department of Justice said in the lawsuit.
President Trump sent in the National Guard and the Marines in response to the recent protests, drawing backlash from California Democrats.
The Hill has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
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