Trump DOJ Sues Los Angeles Over Sanctuary Ordinance, Citing Supremacy Clause

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday sued the City of Los Angeles, its mayor Karen Bass and the City Council, alleging that the city’s sanctuary-city ordinance illegally obstructs federal immigration enforcement and violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the complaint targets Ordinance No. 188441, adopted in December 2024, which bars city personnel and resources from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Federal lawyers are seeking a permanent injunction blocking the measure and related policies, saying Los Angeles singles out federal immigration officers for adverse treatment compared with other law-enforcement agencies.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called sanctuary policies “the driving cause of the violence, chaos and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles.” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose office is prosecuting the case, said the city is “picking and choosing which federal laws will be enforced.” City officials had not yet issued a formal response.

The lawsuit follows weeks of protests and riots over stepped-up federal immigration raids, unrest that prompted President Donald Trump to deploy National Guard troops and several hundred U.S. Marines to Los Angeles. It is the fourth court action the administration has brought this year challenging sanctuary measures in major U.S. jurisdictions, underscoring an escalating confrontation between the White House and Democratic-led cities over immigration policy.