Latino workers and local organizations sue DHS for unlawful arrest and abductions

A group of Latino workers, immigrant rights organizations and workers' rights advocacy groups sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for unlawful arrest and abductions due to the immigration raids that have been a daily reality in the Los Angeles area. 

The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday night in federal court, alleges that DHS has unconstitutionally arrested and detained people in order to meet arbitrary arrest quotas. As previously reported, the Donald Trump administration has set aggressive new goals, demanding that federal agents from DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest 3,000 people a day.  

Racial profiling 

According to the lawsuit, the people being detained and arrested are racially profiled, and the majority of them do not have a criminal record or a warrant in their name. “This comprehensive scheme has been guided as a crackdown on the 'worst of the worst.’ But the preponderance of individuals stopped and arrested in the raids have not been targeted in any meaningful sense of the word at all, except on the basis of their skin color and occupation,” the lawsuit stated. 

Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, one of the organizations representing the plaintiffs, said they are looking to hold DHS accountable for violating people's Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights by conducting unlawful arrests and not respecting people's rights to due process after being taken into custody.  

The lawsuit also touched on the federal agents' violence, intimidation and anonymity when it comes to arresting people, much of which can be seen in social media videos and is told by eyewitness testimonies. The lawsuit also highlights the abuse of power and their unwillingness to identify themselves. Agents are often seen in civilians' clothing, masked and covered from head to toe. 

“Since June 6, marauding, masked goons have descended upon Los Angeles, terrorizing our Brown communities and tearing up the constitution in the process,” Tajsar said. “No matter their status or the color of their skin, everyone is guaranteed constitutional rights to protect them from illegal stops.”

The lawsuit lists the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, United Farm Workers (UFW), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and Immigrant Defenders Law Center, as well as five Latino men, as plaintiffs. 

Three of the men listed in the lawsuit were arrested by federal agents at bus stops as they were waiting to be picked up for their jobs. 

Another plaintiff, from Baldwin Park, works at a car wash in Orange County which has been visited three times by immigration agents, most recently on June 18, 2025, when he was questioned and detained by agents despite informing them he is a U.S. citizens. 

A plaintiff from East L.A. was stopped and questioned by immigration agents at a tow yard in L.A. County on June 12, 2025, despite also explaining multiple times that he is a U.S. citizen. According to the lawsuit, agents pushed him against the metal gated fence, put his hands behind his back, and twisted his arm before letting him go. 

All of them fear being subjected to similar actions again based on their Latino ethnicity and identity as day laborers. 

“These raids have targeted the most vulnerable members of our workforce, essential workers who are the backbone of our local economy,” said Armando Gudino, executive director of the Los Angeles Worker Center Network. “We cannot allow racial profiling, warrantless arrests and denial of due process to become the standard operating procedure in our communities.” 

Conditions at the B-18 basement

Three of the five Latino men who are plaintiffs in the case filed the lawsuit while still being detained in the basement of the Los Angeles downtown federal building, referred to as "B-18.” The building located on Los Angeles Street serves as a processing center and temporary holding area for ICE. 

The lawsuit indicates concerns regarding the conditions and practices at this facility, which is only designed for short-term processing and temporary stays and not prolonged confinement, as it is now reportedly used. 

In late June, attorney Sergio Perez, executive director for the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, told ABC7 what he had heard from a man staying in B-18.  "He told me that he was held in a room with 70 other individuals, at times dropping to only as little as 50. There was just one toilet that they all shared, completely open air, no privacy. He told me that often, he was only being fed once a day at 3 a.m. in the morning and that access to fresh water was limited," he told ABC7.  

According to the lawsuit, it is suspected that over 300 individuals were being held at B-18 as of June 20, 2025. People detained sleep in cold rooms on floors without cots, bedding or blankets. Some are forced to sleep in tents outside, as stated in the lawsuit. 

“We have heard from over 100 families of individuals taken to B-18 and other detention centers that attest to their loved ones being kept in overcrowded, cold and inhumane conditions. They are held in small windowless rooms with dozens or more other detainees, in extremely cramped quarters, while being verbally humiliated and pressured into signing papers they don’t understand,” said Angelica Salas, executive director at CHIRLA.

The plaintiffs seek to represent two classes of individuals: people who have been or will be subjected to unlawful practices of suspicionless stops as well as warrantless arrests without evaluations of flight risk. The plaintiffs are requesting that the court certify the case as a class action and to issue preliminary and permanent injunctions. 

“If the Trump administration insists on trampling Angelenos’ rights, we’ll see them in court,” said Alvaro M. Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center.