In a new ruling on Friday, July 11, a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered the Trump administration to stop certain stops and arrests as part of immigration enforcement. The plaintiffs in the case want to put an end to what they call “unconstitutional” enforcement used in LA.
Victory for the plaintiffs
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Public Counsel and fellow plaintiffs accused the administration of indiscriminately targeting minorities in LA. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong appeared to take issue with the government’s lack of evidence to refute those specific allegations, according to a report from the LA Times.
According to the complaint, “individuals with brown skin are approached or pulled aside by unidentified federal agents, suddenly and with a show of force, and made to answer questions about who they are and where they are from.”
The judge reportedly pressed government lawyers on how agents were making arrests, saying she wanted to hear more specifics and less generalities.
The plaintiffs argued the arrests are politically driven and being used to make an example of the city for policies the Trump administration does not like. Judge Frimpong’s ruling will temporarily halt those kinds of arrests. Her ruling will also ensure that detainees have access to legal counsel.
The complaint said people arrested by immigration enforcement are being held in “dungeon-like” conditions without being given access to a lawyer. Government lawyers said the detentions were legal, and any injunction could not be applied broadly. They will likely file an appeal with the new ruling.
Trump v. Los Angeles
This court battle comes just weeks after the Trump administration sued Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policies. As a sanctuary city, Los Angeles city resources, including law enforcement, will not be used to help the federal government with deportation efforts.
Government lawyers said in their complaint that the president “campaigned and won the presidential election on a platform of deporting the millions of illegal immigrants the previous administration permitted, through its open borders policy, to enter the country unlawfully.”
There’s also a three-day trial coming in August over the president’s deployment and ongoing use of the National Guard in Los Angeles.
Immigration lawsuits
The latest lawsuit joins a growing list of instances of legal action taken during the first six months of President Donald Trump’s second term.
A judge recently blocked an administration policy aimed at denying asylum to people who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
Several states have also filed suit against the administration for sharing Medicaid data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including a lawsuit from June, which aimed to preserve migrant children’s rights when they are in detention.
