Donald Trump’s administration has sued the city ofLos Angelesover its immigration policies, claiming that city law discriminates against federal law enforcement and is obstructing the enforcement of immigration laws with sanctuary policies that bar local police from sharing information on people without legal status.
Filed in the central district of California, thelawsuit saysDonald Trump “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”. It is the latest in a string of lawsuits against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions – including New York,New Jersey and Colorado – that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Los Angeles’s sanctuary city ordinance bars city resources from being used for immigration enforcement. The court filing calls the city ordinance “illegal” and asks that it be blocked from being enforced as the White House cracks down on what it calls a “crisis of illegal immigration”.
Attorney general Pam Bondi said in a statement: “Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles. 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.”
It comes weeks after protests over the administration’s highly aggressive and hostile deportation agendaexploded in Los Angeles. The protesters – along with city mayor Karen Bass and state governor Gavin Newsom – have subsequently become key targets for Trump and his allies.
Over the past three weeks, immigration agents have swarmed southernCalifornia, arresting hundreds of people and prompting the protests. Tens of thousands of people participated in rallies over immigration raids and the subsequent deployment of the national guard and marines.
Los Angeles police have arrested over 100 people on various charges from throwing rocks at federal officers to setting fire to Waymo cars equipped with self-driving technology.
“The practical upshot of Los Angeles’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities has, since 6 June 2025, been lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism,” the court filing says.
On 18 June, the mayor lifted a curfew she had imposed a week earlier to prevent vandalism and break-ins during nighttime protests. The demonstrations had been largely concentrated in a few downtown blocks that are home to several federal and local government buildings.
Chad Mizelle, Bondi’s chief of staff, said in announcing the latest lawsuit that the administration will not tolerate any interference with the federal government’s crackdown.
“We will keep enforcing federal immigration law in Los Angeles, whether or not the city’s government or residents agree with it,” Mizelle said in a social media post.