The motion to intervene seeks to ensure that Santa Monica and other plaintiff-intervenors can advocate for their residents’ rights in court
Santa Monica has joined a coalition of Los Angeles-area cities and the County of Los Angeles in filing a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging what they call unconstitutional immigration enforcement actions by the federal government, city officials announced Wednesday.
The motion, filed by Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto alongside Mayor Karen Bass, seeks to support a lawsuit, Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, initiated by the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Counsel, and other civil rights groups. The lawsuit aims to stop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection from conducting stops, raids, and roundups without reasonable suspicion or probable cause, alleging these actions target individuals based on perceived ethnicity, use excessive force, and deny detainees access to attorneys.
Santa Monica, along with Pasadena, Culver City, Pico Rivera, Montebello, Monterey Park, West Hollywood, and Los Angeles County, argues that since June 6, 2025, federal agents—often armed, masked, and lacking visible identification—have conducted unprecedented searches and seizures across the region, targeting communities based on race and ethnicity and violating due process rights.
“The actions we’re seeing across our region by the federal government are illegal, inhumane, and unacceptable, and they are having devastating impacts throughout our community,” said Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete in a statement. “Our local economy, our small business owners, and our most vulnerable residents are suffering, and we will not stand for it. That is why Santa Monica is joining other cities to put a stop to the illegal racial profiling tactics that are sowing fear, panic, and division.”
The coalition claims these federal actions, which include deploying thousands of unidentified agents and military troops, have occurred without notice or coordination with local law enforcement, causing fear and mistrust in Santa Monica and neighboring communities. The motion argues that such tactics are unlike any lawful immigration enforcement seen in the region in over 70 years.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described the federal government’s actions as treating the region “as a test case for how far it can go in driving its political agenda forward while pushing the Constitution aside.” She emphasized that the lawsuit aims to set a precedent for upholding constitutional values.
The motion to intervene, supported by co-counsel Munger Tolles & Olsen, seeks to ensure that Santa Monica and other plaintiff-intervenors can advocate for their residents’ rights in court. Local leaders, including Culver City Mayor Dan O’Brien and West Hollywood Mayor Chelsea Lee Byers, echoed Santa Monica’s stance, condemning the raids as disruptive and discriminatory.
