Trump administration sues Los Angeles, alleging sanctuary policies impede ICE and discriminate against federal authorities.

Justice Department Cites Supremacy Clause in Federal Lawsuit

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, asserting that the city’s sanctuary policies unlawfully interfere with federal immigration enforcement. The complaint, announced Monday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, accuses Los Angeles of undermining the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to perform its duties and alleges discrimination against federal authorities.

"Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles," Bondi said in an exclusive statement. She argued that prioritizing undocumented immigrants over American citizens undermines law enforcement at every level. "It ends under President Trump," Bondi declared, emphasizing the administration’s intent to overturn such policies.

The Justice Department lawsuit invokes the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which establishes that federal law takes precedence over conflicting state or local policies. The complaint claims that Los Angeles singles out ICE for adverse treatment compared to other law enforcement agencies. "The Los Angeles Ordinance and other policies intentionally discriminate against the Federal Government by treating federal immigration authorities differently than other law enforcement agents through access restrictions both to property and to individual detainees, by prohibiting contractors and sub-contractors from providing information, and by disfavoring federal criminal laws that the City of Los Angeles has decided not to comply with," the lawsuit reads.

The suit requests a judicial order to block the enforcement of sanctuary city policies and argues that the city’s laws are invalid under the Constitution. "The Supremacy Clause prohibits the City of Los Angeles and its officials from singling out the Federal Government for adverse treatment — as the challenged law and policies do — thereby discriminating against the Federal Government. Accordingly, the law and policies challenged here are invalid and should be enjoined," the complaint adds.

Protests, Political Tensions Follow ICE Operations

The legal battle follows recent protests and unrest in Los Angeles after ICE conducted operations across the city. The situation escalated into riots, prompting President Donald Trump to order a controversial deployment of the National Guard, a move that was later challenged in court. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass criticized both the violence and the federal response, claiming that ICE’s actions provoked the city and that the presence of federal troops acted as an instigator.

"Last Thursday, ICE entered our city and provoked the city by chasing people through Home Depots and car washes and showing up at schools and, today, showing up at emergency rooms and homeless shelters," Bass said. She argued that the federal government used the operations as a pretext to deploy the National Guard and, eventually, U.S. Marines. "They used this as a pretext to send the U.S. Marines into an American city, which will target our own citizens," Bass stated.

The outcome of the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Los Angeles is likely to set a major precedent for federal authority over immigration and the extent to which local jurisdictions can resist or cooperate with national policy. As the debate intensifies, the clash between federal priorities and local governance remains at the center of the national immigration conversation.