California, Los Angeles Join Activist suit Against national Authorities Over ICE Operations

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with the attorneys general from several other states, submitted an amicus brief on July 7 in an effort to prevent the federal government from continuing its immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles.

The case, Perdomo v. Noem, was filed on behalf of individuals who say they were unlawfully stopped or detained by federal agents. The lawsuit alleges that federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are deploying unconstitutional and unlawful immigration tactics, and stopping individuals based on race and ethnicity.

The lawsuit also alleges that the agencies are stripping detainees of constitutionally mandated due process and that ICE and CBP policies ignore the need for reasonable suspicion. The lawsuit also alleges the actions are in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The lawsuit, which was announced on July 2 at the Bubble Bath Hand Car Wash in Torrance, the site of several removal operations, was filed as a result of one specific incident. According to the ACLU of Southern California, five individuals were stopped or arrested on July 2.

They subsequently filed suit alongside the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, United Farm Workers, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, and legal services provider Immigrant Defenders Law Center.

The lawsuit seeks to put an end to the stops and arrests, as well as to ensure those who are detained receive due process and access to counsel while in federal detention.

The lawsuit comes just two days after the Trump administration sued the City of Los Angeles on June 30 over its ‘sanctuary city’ policies, alleging in federal court that the ordinance violates the Constitution by thwarting immigration enforcement.

“The United States Constitution’s Supremacy Clause prohibits the city from picking and choosing which federal laws will be enforced and which will not,” United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in astatement on the lawsuit.

The amicus brief supports the plaintiffs in the case, who are requesting a temporary restraining order to prohibit ICE and CBP from carrying out stops in Los Angeles during immigration actions, unless there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.

The attorneys general in their amicus brief also argue that the stops, as well as federal agents wearing masks and concealing the name of the law enforcement agency for which they work, have undermined public safety.

“The lawsuit comes amid the Trump Administration conducting aggressive, militaristic immigration raids in Los Angeles that have terrified immigrant and non-immigrant residents alike, chilled community members’ participation in civic society, and impeded law enforcement and public safety,” Bonta’s office said in a statement on July 7.

Bonta argues that the ICE operations are not about safety or justice, but rather about enforcement quotas.

“The actions of ICE and CBP during the raids in Los Angeles are part of a cruel and familiar pattern of attacks on our immigrant communities by an administration that thrives on fear and division,” Bonta said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the Fourth Amendment protects everyone from unreasonable searches and seizures.

“Instead of targeting dangerous criminals, federal agents are detaining U.S. citizens, ripping families apart, and vanishing people to meet indiscriminate arrest quotas without regard to due process and constitutional rights that protect all of us from cruelty and injustice,” Newsom said.

“Their actions imperil the fabric of our democracy, society, and economy. This isn’t law and order—it’s cruelty and chaos. We stand solidly in support of progress, of the law, and the foundation upon which our founding fathers built this great nation.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi has said the city’s actions amount to obstruction of federal law.

“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 said in a statement on the suit.

Bonta likened the Trump administration’s deportation of illegal immigrants to the 1954 Operation Wetback, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in which an estimated 300,000 people were arrested and deported, including naturalized U.S. citizens.

“The dragnet has resulted in U.S. citizens being wrongfully detained and has created a culture of fear and COVID-style ghost towns,” Bonta’s office said in a statement.

The attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington signed on to the amicus brief, which is focused on events taking place in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, Pasadena, Culver City, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pico Rivera, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood, as well as the County of Los Angeles, have also filed a motion to intervene in the Vasquez Perdomo et al. v. Noem et al. lawsuit.

“The Administration is treating Los Angeles as a test case for how far it can go in driving its political agenda forward while pushing the Constitution aside,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.

“The City of Los Angeles, along with the County, cities, organizations and Angelenos across L.A., is taking the Administration to court to stop its clear violation of the United States Constitution and federal law. We will not be intimidated – we are making Los Angeles the example of how people who believe in American values will stand together and stand united.”

In one high-profile arrest, on July 2, ICE arrested Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at his home in Studio City, near Los Angeles. Chavez, who the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says entered the country illegally, is accused of being an associate of the Sinaloa Cartel, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization.

“This Sinaloa Cartel affiliate with an active arrest warrant for trafficking guns, ammunition, and explosives was arrested by ICE. It is shocking the previous administration flagged this criminal illegal alien as a public safety threat, but chose to not prioritize his removal and let him leave and COME BACK into our country,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on July 3.

The DHS said that its Los Angeles operations have resulted in the arrest of those with convictions for murder, pedophilia, fentanyl trafficking, spousal abuse, sexual assault, and armed robbery.

“Under the Trump Administration 70% of illegal aliens arrested have been convicted or charged with a crime beyond illegally entering our country,” McLaughlin said in a statement on June 26.

“As bad faith politicians attempt to demean and vilify our brave law enforcement, we will only double down and ramp up our enforcement actions against the worst of the worst criminals.”