A court hearing Thursday in downtown Los Angeles is expected to focus on whether the federal government is continuing to violate detained immigrants’ Fifth Amendment right to access attorneys and whether an existing order requiring access to legal counsel should be extended.
U.S. District Judge Maame E. Frimpong issued the temporary restraining order in July requiring that detainees confined in the basement holding area known as B-18 in downtown’s Roybal Federal Building be given access to lawyers.
The judge also issued an order barring federal agents from making immigration arrests resulting from “roving patrols” that targeted people for deportation based on their race or language, but the U.S. Supreme Court lifted those restrictions.
Previously, the district court found evidence of denied access to counsel and issued the TRO — which remains in place and was not appealed or stayed by the Supreme Court.
Plaintiffs say the hearing Thursday signals new momentum for their side. Earlier this week, the judge approved expedited discovery on the roving patrols claims, allowing attorneys to gather evidence — including documents, data and depositions — related to alleged unlawful stops, detentions and racial profiling during immigration raids.
It is the first immigration-raids case under U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to move into discovery, according to plaintiff attorneys.
The hearing is part of a lawsuit filed in early July in Los Angeles federal court in which Southern California residents, workers and advocacy groups accused DHS of “abducting and disappearing” community members using unlawful stop and warrantless arrest tactics and confining individuals at the federal building in illegal conditions while denying access to attorneys.
Lead plaintiff Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, 54, a day laborer from Pasadena, says he was waiting to be picked up for a construction job at a Metro bus stop in front of a Winchell’s Donuts in Pasadena on the morning of June 18 when he and two others were surrounded by masked men with guns, arrested and taken to the detention center, where he remained for three weeks. He has since been granted bond and released.
Frimpong’s orders apply in Los Angeles and six surrounding counties.