LOS ANGELES—City officials have taken legal action to end federal immigration raids after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and what appeared to be National Guard troops descended onto MacArthur Park on July 7.
Reportedly, just before 11 a.m., federal agents staged just outside MacArthur Park, located 2.5 miles northwest of Downtown L.A. That area is referred to by some locals as the heart of the immigrant community.
“They need to leave, and they need to leave right now. They need to leave because this is unacceptable,” Mayor Bass told reporters at the scene. The park was nearly empty when 90 National Guard troops and dozens of federal officers moved through it, drawing residents and protesters.
The second she heard about it, she went to the park to speak to the person in charge, Mayor Bass stated. There were more than 20 children playing when the military came through, she said.
“To have armored vehicles deployed on the streets of our city, to federalize the National Guard, to have the U.S. Marines who are trained to kill abroad, deployed to our city—all of this is outrageous, and it is un-American.
It’s clear that this is all part of a political agenda to terrorize immigrants and signal that they need to stay at home when there are entire sectors of our economy that rely on immigrant workers,” stated Mayor Bass during a news conference held the same day.
“The federal government is not leaving L.A. I don’t work for Karen Bass. The federal government doesn’t work for Karen Bass, so we’re going to be here until that mission is accomplished, as I said,” Border Patrol El Centro Sector Chief Gregory Bovino told FOX 11 Los Angeles. “And, better get used to us now, because this is going to be normal very soon,” he added.
The troops and officers left after about an hour, according to the Associated Press. “The Department of Homeland Security did not say whether anyone was arrested. Associated Press journalists who arrived as the troops and agents entered the park did not see anyone detained.
When asked about the appearance in MacArthur Park, the DHS said in an email that the agency would not comment on ‘ongoing enforcement operations.’ The Defense Department referred all questions to DHS,” continued AP.
“What a disgrace, what’s happening in MacArthur Park. What theatre,” said Gov. Newsom during a separate news conference that day. “On the 6-month anniversary of the LA wildfires, Donald Trump decided to send troops on horseback to round people up on soccer fields instead of delivering what LA actually needs—the emergency aid that he continues to play games with,” he posted on X.
MacArthur Park is the Ellis Island of the West Coast, stated District 1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who argued that the current federal administration is scapegoating and demonizing immigrants. “…when we disregard due process, we are no longer living under the rule of democracy. We are living under occupation and authoritarianism,” she said.
Further, sending U.S. soldiers “to intimidate children at camp and señoras at the bus stop is not making anyone safer. Raiding Home Depots is not stopping crime. Tearing families away from their children isn’t upholding family values,” continued Councilmember Hernandez.
She emphasized L.A.’s commitment to continue to support its families, resist, and demand the immediate withdrawal of federal troops and ICE in their city. She issued a call to all elected officials and people across the country, from local civil leaders to governors:
“Please, understand that’s what’s happening here in the city of Los Angeles, we are the canary in the coal mine. What you see happening in MacArthur Park is coming to you! …”
Meanwhile, on July 8, Mayor Bass and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, along with regional mayors in Los Angeles County, announced the filing of a motion to intervene in a federal class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of people who have been unlawfully stopped or detained by federal agents.
Vasquez-Perdomo v. Noem, filed July 2, calls for an end to unlawful stops and arrests, and for the protection of due process and access to counsel rights for people in immigration detention.
The lawsuit alleges that federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have engaged in unconstitutional and unlawful immigration raids by targeting Angelenos based on their perceived race and ethnicity and also denying detainees constitutionally-mandated due process.
“Immigrants are our family members. They are our neighbors, our co-workers, our classmates, our colleagues,” stated Atty. Soto, who added that she is the first Latina in the role of L.A. City Attorney. “So, this issue hits particularly close to home for me,” she said.
“These unconstitutional roundups and raids cannot be allowed to continue. They cannot become the new normal. This cannot become routine, to send militarized troops into our streets, without reasonable suspicion, without probable cause, to round people up and take them away,” she stated.
On June 30, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Mayor Bass, the L.A. City Council and City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, alleging that Los Angeles’ Sanctuary City laws are illegal.
It further alleges that “Los Angeles’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities contributed to the recent lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism that was so severe that it required the federal government to deploy the California National Guard and the United States Marines to quell the chaos.”
Mayor Bass asserted that L.A. is a test case and called the DOJ’s lawsuit part of an all-out assault against Los Angeles and an attempt to overturn the will of the city, calling for a halt to the longstanding policy to protect immigrant Angelenos.
“I think this is just a more honest expression of the underlying racism that’s always existed in this country,” stated Matyos Kidane, a L.A.-based community organizer.
“To see this kind of escalation met with resistance from the city, a solid month and some change after the fact, it feels a bit disingenuous, especially when we consider all the adoration and praise that the city has gotten for very performative protections against ICE targeting our communities,” Mr. Kidane told The Final Call.
Meanwhile, on July 11, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on July 11 temporarily blocking the Trump administration from carrying out immigration stops and arrests in Los Angeles without probable cause.