The U.S. Department of Justice on 30 June filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the City of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council, seeking to void the city’s sanctuary-city ordinance and bar its enforcement. The complaint says Ordinance No. 188441, enacted on 9 December 2024, unlawfully restricts federal immigration officers from using city resources, entering municipal facilities or obtaining information needed to detain people who are in the country illegally. Federal prosecutors argue the measure violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause by discriminating against federal law-enforcement agencies and impeding cooperation mandated by Congress. The lawsuit links the ordinance to unrest that followed recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, noting that National Guard troops and U.S. Marines were deployed in Los Angeles earlier in June after anti-ICE protests turned violent. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Los Angeles is "undermining law enforcement at every level" and that sanctuary policies "were the driving cause of the violence, chaos and attacks on law enforcement" seen in the city this month. Bass called the lawsuit "an all-out assault against Los Angeles" and pledged to defend the ordinance, saying it reflects the city’s longstanding commitment to immigrant communities. The action against Los Angeles extends a series of federal challenges to sanctuary jurisdictions brought during Trump’s second term, including earlier suits against Chicago and New York. A ruling in the California case could set an important precedent for how far local governments may go in limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.