The timing of this lawsuit couldn’t be more ironic, as it follows closely on the heels of the Trump administration’s legal action against Los Angeles for its sanctuary city policies.
TORRANCE, Calif.—In the shadow of the Bubble Bath Hand Car Wash, immigration activists convened on Wednesday morning to unveil a lawsuit against the federal government, initiated in the early hours of July 2, 2025.
The lawsuit, claiming that federal immigration raids infringe upon the Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights of countless individuals, is backed by a coalition of civil and immigration rights organizations, as reported by representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Southern California, one of the plaintiffs.
Mohammad Tajsar, a senior attorney with the ACLU Foundation, conveyed to reporters the gravity of the lawsuit, asserting that it challenges the federal government’s “
, immoral, and unconstitutional siege of Los Angeles and its neighboring areas,” labeling it a “landmark lawsuit.”
“If you have brown skin, (federal agents) will track you down,” he remarked, highlighting a concerning pattern of racial profiling.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has passionately rejected allegations of racial bias, terming such claims a “disgusting” smear against law enforcement.
Attorneys and immigration advocates were accompanied by family members of several men detained by ICE while working at the car wash, whose surnames were withheld for safety reasons.
Since June 6, a series of documented arrests by federal agents has ignited protests across the city, leading to instances of arrests and property damage, according to officials from the Los Angeles Police Department.
Moreover, attacks on federal agents have surged, as stated by ICE Acting Director Todd M. Lyons, who indicated that assaults on both officers and agents have skyrocketed by 500 percent.
The lawsuit arrives just two days after the Trump administration filed a suit against the City of Los Angeles on June 30, challenging its ‘sanctuary city’ policies in federal court and claiming that these local ordinances obstruct constitutional immigration enforcement.
“The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution bars the city from cherry-picking which federal laws to enforce,” asserted United States Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, in a statement regarding the lawsuit.
“This lawsuit holds the city of Los Angeles accountable for willfully hindering federal immigration law enforcement.”
Hilda Solis, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, noted on Tuesday that data from the DHS indicated that between June 6 and June 22, over 1,600 individuals were detained or deported in Southern California.
“Notably, there have been no arrests of murderers, rapists, or drug traffickers,” remarked Mark Rosenbaum, senior special counsel for strategic litigation at Public Counsel, during a press briefing at the Bubble Bath Hand Car Wash parking lot.
“The most glaring pattern in the Southern California raids has been stops and interrogations based on perceived race and ethnicity.”
However, findings released by DHS officials in a June 26 press release contradicted Rosenbaum’s claims, asserting that recent DHS operations in Los Angeles had led to arrests of individuals with serious criminal convictions, including murder, pedophilia, and drug trafficking.
This proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Los Angeles, seeks both preliminary and permanent injunctions to prevent further alleged violations of constitutional rights, according to the plaintiffs’ legal team.
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