A coalition of legal and immigrant rights groups based in Los Angeles is suing the Trump administration for racial profiling against “brown-skinned” people in its crackdown on illegal immigration.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles federal court, alleges Immigration and Customs Enforcement is discriminating against and arresting people with “brown skin.”
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“Individuals with brown skin are approached or pulled aside by unidentified federal agents, suddenly and with a show of force, and made to answer questions about who they are and where they are from,” the complaint says.
The plaintiffs accused ICE officers of carrying out “brazen, midday kidnappings” rather than “lawful arrests.” They also described Southern California as “under siege” by the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies.
The lawsuit requests a preliminary injunction to halt ICE officers’ actions in the Los Angeles area and to hold the agency accountable for deteriorating detention conditions, which congressional Democrats have cited as justification for their recent oversight visits to immigration facilities.
The plaintiffs, who include three detained immigrants and two U.S. citizens, are represented by Public Counsel, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, and private law firms.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin pushed back against the lawsuit’s allegations.
“Any claims that individuals have been ‘targeted’ by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE,” she said in a statement reported by the Los Angeles Times. “DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence.”
Challenging the claims of poor detention conditions, McLaughlin maintained the agency “has higher detention standards than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens” and said detained immigrants “are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.”
Wednesday’s lawsuit comes one week after a similar lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union said local police in Nassau County, New York, were illegally working with ICE to arrest immigrants.
DHS similarly rebuked that lawsuit’s “racial profiling” allegations.
“Allegations that 287(g) agreements with local law enforcement encourage ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting and categorically FALSE,” DHS posted on X. “Our 287(g) partners work with us to enforce federal immigration law without fear, favor, or prejudice, and they should be commended for doing so. 287(g) is critical to having the enforcement we need to arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country.”
The two lawsuits are part of a growing legal battle between the Trump administration and Los Angeles.
Earlier this week, the Department of Justice sued Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council over its sanctuary laws that encourage local officials to refrain from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. That suit came weeks after the National Guard and Marines were deployed to quell the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles.
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If successful, Wednesday’s lawsuit could dictate how ICE conducts immigration raids in Los Angeles. Public Counsel lawyer Mark Rosenbaum clarified that a possible judgment would not be binding on other cities but predicted the outcome would still have national implications for how the Trump administration pursues its mass deportation campaign.