A street vendor sold flags at Sunset Boulevard and St. Andrews Place on June 19 after ICE agents conducted a raid in the parking lot of a Home Depot store in Hollywood. (photo by Edwin Folven )

As federal agents continue raids targeting immigrants throughout Los Angeles, the City Council is taking steps to protect people from being unlawfully detained and arrested without warrants or probable cause.

Los Angeles City Councilwomen Katy Yaroslavsky, 5th District, and Ysabel Jurado, 14th District, introduced a motion on June 20 calling for Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto to take legal action against the federal government for violations of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees due process under the law. The motion states that agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security are violating the civil rights of Los Angeles residents, bringing into question qualified immunity “for federal law enforcement agents who knowingly disregard the constitutional or civil rights of persons in the United States, and consciously break the law by detaining, searching or otherwise denying individuals their rights, solely on the basis of their appearance.” It was seconded by City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, 8th District, and co-signed by Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez, 13th District; Heather Hutt, 10th District; Imelda Padilla, 6th District; and Eunisses Hernandez, 1st District.

Yaroslavsky and Jurado said residents from different parts of their districts have reported being stopped, questioned and detained by individuals claiming to be federal immigration agents but who were not wearing an official badge or identification, and did not have proper warrants.

“These actions undermine the fundamental civil rights of our residents and threaten the safety of our entire community,” Yaroslavsky said. “We have a responsibility to protect our communities from abuse, and that includes holding the federal government accountable when it crosses the line.”

“These actions further terrorize and traumatize our neighborhoods while tearing communities apart,” Jurado added. “In the face of this, Angelenos are showing courage and solidarity, and we must do everything in our power to protect them.”

Soto-Martinez has been a vocal opponent of the ongoing immigration raids in Los Angeles. He denounced a raid on June 19 in which agents took approximately 20 people into custody outside a Home Depot store on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Speaking near the scene shortly after the raid, the councilman encouraged people who witness ICE activity or a raid in progress to call (888)624-4752. The hotline was established by the Los Angeles Rapid Response Network, a coalition of immigrant rights, legal, labor and faith-based organizations that provide services.

“ICE agents showed up about 7:30 in the morning. They were here for 30 minutes. They took 20 people that we know of right now, 10 of them we have information on, the rest, we don’t know who they are,” Soto-Martinez said in a statement that he posted on social media shortly after the raid. “We know that they picked up a bunch of the day laborers, many of the street vendors. We’re hearing that they even took a U.S. citizen who was just here doing a delivery at Home Depot. We’re trying to get all the information, as much as possible, to get them the legal defense and everything that the families need. These are very difficult and scary times right now.”

Harris-Dawson announced on June 24 that the Los Angeles City Council will allot a short period of time before each council meeting to allow people impacted by the federal actions against immigrant communities to speak.

“We wanted to hear from folks in our districts that are directly impacted – families, businesses, schools, churches, community groups – and just hear from them for a few minutes about the impact of what’s happening, what kind of support neighbors can offer and the city can offer to folks who are affected,” Harris-Dawson said.

The initial speakers were Jose Esqueda, youth and family programs director for the Asian American Drug Abuse Program, and Gregory Perez, community schools coordinator for Burton Technology Academy Charter High School, both located in Harris-Dawson’s 8th District.

“I have been a humble servant of the community for over 36 years now, and I’ve seen a lot, but nothing like this,” Esqueda said. “Streets are empty. People are afraid to come out of their homes, walk to school, walk to work, take the bus. It angers me, it frustrates me and it saddens me because there’s a line being crossed here. The line has been crossed, and ICE is not welcome in my neighborhood. Now it’s not just undocumented immigrants, it’s immigrants across the board – my parents, myself, my neighbors – we’re all afraid.”

“It’s important that we share stories of specific incidents that happen because I think what we see on the news and the media, it’s easy to become desensitized to these events, but behind these events are real stories of real people, real families,” Perez said. “We can’t become desensitized with this stuff that’s happening.”

Some members of the council who did not sign onto Yaroslavsky and Jurado’s motion support it. A spokeswoman for Councilman Tim McOsker, 15th District, confirmed the councilman backs the motion, adding that he couldn’t sign it because he was not in council when the motion was presented. A spokeswoman for Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, 7th District, said the councilwoman has introduced her own series of motions in opposition to the ICE raids and federal actions such as deploying the California National Guard and U.S. Marines in Los Angeles. Rodriguez also authored a motion supporting a state law that would prohibit law enforcement officers from covering their faces.

Yaroslavsky and Jurado’s motion asks the City Attorney’s Office to “prioritize immediate legal action to protect the civil rights of our residents and to seek injunctive relief from unconstitutional searches, seizures and detentions.” The councilwomen cited a recent court ruling in the case United Farm Workers v. Noem in which a federal judge blocked similar actions by immigration agents in the Central Valley. The lawsuit names U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as a plaintiff, as well as the acting commissioner and chief of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Yaroslavsky and Jurado’s motion is expected to be heard in City Council committees in the coming weeks before coming back to the full council. No timeline was set.