A lawsuit filed by Donald Trump’s administration against Los Angeles over a local ordinance that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities has been dismissed by a California court.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin of central California ruled against the Trump administration’s argument that Los Angeles’ policy is unconstitutional, but permitted officials to refile an amended complaint.
In a statement released on Monday, Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto described the ruling as a victory for the city, which faced a wave of immigration raids carried out by ICE and Border Patrol agents last summer.
“This order reinforces the well-established principle that local governments have the authority to decide how to use their personnel and resources,” Feldstein Soto said in a statement released on Monday.
“The goal of this ordinance, and of LAPD’s immigration-related policies – which date back to Special Order 40 in the 1970s – is to encourage victims of and witnesses to crime to feel safe coming forward to seek help from LAPD regardless of their immigration status. It does not obstruct or impede lawful federal immigration enforcement operations.”
Filed in June last year, the administration’s lawsuit claimed that Los Angeles broke federal law by adopting policies that prevent city resources from supporting immigration enforcement efforts or gathering data on individuals’ citizenship status.
The legal action was initiated just weeks after Trump sent troops to Los Angeles in response to protests opposing deportation operations.
On Saturday, Olguin dismissed the administration’s claim that the city was unlawfully attempting to regulate federal authority, ruling instead that the ordinance “controls the actions of the city’s own agents and agencies.”
The Trump administration has also brought multiple legal challenges against comparable policies introduced in Democratic-led jurisdictions.
Federal courts have already thrown out similar lawsuits filed by the administration against Boston and Chicago.
