Los Angeles - City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto issued the following statement in response to the preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong in Pedro Vasquez Perdomo et al. v. Markwayne Mullin et al. (“Perdomo”). Last year, Feldstein Soto organized a coalition of local governments across Southern California to join this case as part of her broader efforts to protect Angelenos in response to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids conducted in the City of Los Angeles that began in June 2025.
“For 15 months, the federal government has instilled fear, chaos and confusion across Los Angeles, with unconstitutional raids, roundups and detentions. This ruling affirms that federal immigration enforcement must follow the law,” said Hydee Feldstein Soto, Los Angeles City Attorney. “My office stands united with our immigrant and allied communities as we continue fighting to uphold our values as Angelenos and defend the constitution of the United States.”
Under a preliminary injunction unsealed by the court, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ruled that federal immigration agents are prohibited from making warrantless civil immigration arrests in the Central District of California without first making an individualized, pre-arrest determination of probable cause that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The order also requires documentation of the facts supporting that determination. The court found that a person’s mere presence in the country in violation of immigration law, alone, is insufficient to establish that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
The City’s complaint was filed by the City Attorney’s Office along with co-counsel Munger Tolles & Olson. The lawsuit asks the court to prevent the federal government from engaging in unconstitutional and unlawful stops, round ups and raids without reasonable suspicion or probable cause and apparently based upon perceived ethnicity; from utilizing disproportionate force while carrying out immigration enforcement activities; and from confining individuals in unlawful conditions without access to their attorneys.
For additional information, see City Attorney Report No. R26-0530: Pedro Vasquez Perdomo et al. v. Markwayne Mullin et al.
Case No.: 2:25-cv-05605-MEMF-SP: Amended* Order
Granting in Part Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction Re: Warrantless Arrests [Dkt. No. 529] and Granting Intervenors’ Joinder [Dkt. No. 570] (Amending Order at Dkt. No. 704)
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Hydee Feldstein Soto is the 43rd Los Angeles City Attorney, elected in November 2022 and sworn into office in December 2022. Her team of nearly 1,000 legal professionals, including 500+ attorneys, carries out legal work for the City of Los Angeles at her direction and under her supervision. She is the first female City Attorney in L.A. history.