LA immigrant advocates sue over detention tactics, arrests

A group of Los Angeles immigrant advocates sued the Trump administration on Wednesday in U.S. District Court, alleging a systemic pattern of racially motivated arrests. 

Five individual workers and four civil rights groups filed the federal lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, among other officials.

Plaintiffs allege masked federal agents have conducted “indiscriminate immigration operations” by flooding street corners, bus stops, parking lots, agricultural sites, day laborer corners and other places with checkpoints to “interrogate,” according to the court document. 

“Individuals with brown skin are approached or pulled aside by unidentified federal agents, suddenly and with a show of force, and made to answer questions about who they are and where they are from,” the lawsuit says. 

“If they hesitate, attempt to leave, or do not answer the questions to the satisfaction of the agents, they are detained, sometimes tackled, handcuffed, and/or taken into custody.”

Large groups recently protested the number of raids in the Los Angeles area and the treatment of immigrants in custody.

The lawsuit alleges detainees are being kept in “deplorable” and “dungeon like” conditions without food or clean drinking water.

Families of those in custody said some are drinking toilet water and people are forced to sleep on the ground, according to The Associated Press.

The Hill has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment.

Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, denied those reports and said “enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence” before making arrests, as reported by the AP.

“All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members,” she added.