DOJ sues LA over 'unlawful' sanctuary city policies

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sued the city of Los Angeles as well as LA Mayor Karen Bass over the city's sanctuary city policies. This comes after the Trump administration conducted a number of immigration enforcement operations in the city that led to riots taking place in the streets against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The complaint stated that LA's sanctuary city policies are in "violation of the Supremacy Clause" found in Article VI of the Constitution, and that as a result, the policies are "unlawful, unenforceable, and void ab initio," or void from the beginning. With the complaint, the DOJ seeks to bar LA from enforcing the sanctuary city policies, which would allow for the federal government to be better able to take illegal immigrants into custody.

In a press release, the DOJ stated, "Not only are Los Angeles’s 'sanctuary city' policies illegal under federal law, but, as alleged in the complaint, 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."

Attorney General Pam Bondi said of the lawsuit against LA, "Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles."

“Jurisdictions like Los Angeles that flout federal law by prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens are undermining law enforcement at every level – it ends under President Trump," she added.

Earlier this month, anti-ICE riots raged in the streets of downtown LA, where ICE agents and police were assaulted, mass looting ensued, and rioters torched several cars after ICE agents conducted operations in the city. The violence was followed by other riots across the country in blue cities such as Portland and Seattle.