(LOS ANGELES) – Today, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, joined by Mayor Karen Bass, announced that her office - along with the County of Los Angeles and the cities of Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, Pico Rivera, Montebello, Monterey Park, and West Hollywood, and co-counsel Munger Tolles & Olsen - filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit, Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Public Counsel, and other immigration and civil rights groups filed last week. This lawsuit asks the court to prevent the federal government, including the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 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 in carrying immigration enforcement activities, and from confining individuals at federal buildings in unlawful conditions without access to their attorneys.
The motion to intervene as Plaintiff-Intervenors seeks to support this effort to challenge the unlawful immigration enforcement activities that have taken place in Los Angeles since June 6, 2025, which have included the federal government’s targeting of the Los Angeles area and of Angelenos based on their race and ethnicity and denying constitutionally-mandated due process to those detained. In today’s motion to intervene, the Plaintiff-Intervenors argue that armed and masked individuals, often without visible credentials or identification, have conducted unprecedented, unconstitutional, and expansive searches and seizures across the Los Angeles region. These activities are unlike other lawful immigration enforcement or any other targeted civil or criminal enforcement activity that has occurred on a regular basis in the Los Angeles region in more than 70 years.
The federal government’s illegal actions have also been perpetrated on communities without notice or coordination with the Intervenors or local law enforcement, and have caused tangible and intangible harm by deploying armed, unidentified and hostile forces daily who have sowed fear and mistrust.
“The federal government has concentrated thousands of armed immigration agents, many of whom lack visible identification, and military troops in our communities, conducting unconstitutional raids, roundups and anonymous detentions, sowing fear and chaos among our residents,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. “Today’s motion to intervene shows we will not stand by and allow these raids to continue or to become the standard operating procedure in our communities.”
The Administration is treating Los Angeles as a test case for how far it can go in driving its political agenda forward while pushing the Constitution aside,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “The City of Los Angeles, along with the County, cities, organizations and Angelenos across L.A., is taking the Administration to court to stop its clear violation of the United States Constitution and federal law. We will not be intimidated – we are making Los Angeles the example of how people who believe in American values must stand together and stand united.”
“The actions we’re seeing across our region by the federal government are illegal, inhumane and unacceptable, and they are having devastating impacts throughout our community,” said Mayor Lana Negrete of Santa Monica. “Our local economy, our small business owners and our most vulnerable residents are suffering and we will not stand for it. That is why Santa Monica is joining other cities to put a stop to the illegal racial profiling tactics that are sowing fear, panic and division.”
As Mayor of the City of Montebello, and together with my City Council colleagues, we felt it was important to join this lawsuit alongside other local cities to defend the rights of all residents and families impacted by the outrageous actions of ICE and related agencies,” said Mayor Salvador Melendez of Montebello.
”The City of Monterey Park is proud of our diverse immigrant heritage,” said Mayor Vinh T. Ngo of Monterey Park. “We stand together in solidarity with our neighbors across Greater Los Angeles in seeking justice and upholding the rights of all residents.”
“This federal overreach is damaging our community, fracturing immigrant families and friends,” said Culver City Mayor Dan O’Brien. “Thank you to Mayor Bass and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office for filing this action. I’m grateful Culver City, along with other Westside cities, can join with you all to take this stand.“
“The City of West Hollywood unequivocally condemns the ongoing ice raids that are targeting immigrant families across our region. These actions are not only disruptive. They are also discriminatory and deeply destabilizing to our communities,” said Mayor Chelsea Lee Byers of West Hollywood. “They sow fear in our neighborhoods, divide families and undermine public trust in the rule of law and due process. West Hollywood stands with cities across the region and rejects these tactics. We reaffirm our commitment to protecting the dignity, rights and humanity of all people, regardless of immigration status.”
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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.