By Destiny Torres for LAist
Originally published June 30, 2025 at 11: 52 a.m., updated 1 p.m.
The Department of Justice is suing Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policies, alleging that the city’s laws “deliberately” obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
In the lawsuit filed Monday, the department blames the ordinance for why it deployed the National Guard and U.S. Marines.
“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.
L.A. declared itself a sanctuary city in 2019 and enshrined its policies into law last year. The declaration does not allow the city to cooperate with federal agents and prohibits federal agents from using city resources — staff and property — for immigration enforcement.
“Trump is tearing families apart and he’s trying to force every city and town to help him carry out his white nationalist agenda,” L.A. City Council member Hugo Soto-Martinez said. “The lawsuit gets one thing right. We refuse to stand by and let Donald Trump deport innocent families. We’re going to do everything within our power to keep families together.”
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass did not immediately respond to LAist’s requests for comment.
More from the lawsuit
The Department of Justice argues that the sanctuary policies violate the Constitution, and unlawfully regulates and discriminates against the federal government.
The department is asking a judge to void the city’s sanctuary policies by declaring them unlawful and unenforceable.
What are L.A.’s policies?
The city’s sanctuary laws prohibit the use of city resources for immigration enforcement.
LAPD officers, for example, can’t question or detain people based on their immigration status. Police officers also can’t hold people in jail past their release date at the request of ICE agents. And federal agents can’t use city services to access residents’ personal data.
This report is reprinted with permission from Southern California Public Radio. © 2024 Southern California Public Radio. All rights reserved.