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Trump's immigration raids roil LA. How it plays out could matter in other cities.

Los Angeles has become ground zero for America鈥檚 immigration face-off.

Continuing confrontations on the streets over deportation enforcement have advanced to the courtroom. Last week, the Trump administration sued the city over its 鈥渟anctuary鈥� policy. Immigrant advocates, joined by the city, are suing to challenge the legality of the federal tactics. On Friday, a federal judge sided with the immigrant advocates and ordered the administration to temporarily halt indiscriminate stops and arrests in California, the .

A truce, perhaps more narrowly focused on deporting violent criminals, seems elusive as the Trump administration and LA Mayor Karen Bass dig in. Meanwhile, the aggressive federal presence is having a profound effect on the nation鈥檚 second-largest city, where shops are reporting a dramatic slowdown in business, and some streets have become eerily devoid of traffic.

LA is a place where white residents have not been the majority for more than three decades, and Latinos are the largest ethnic group. After decades of unresolved immigration issues at the federal level, it鈥檚 also a place where those with papers and those without have been integrated into an economic and cultural whole.

All this has made it a natural flash point for President Donald Trump, who was elected partly on a promise to restore order at the border and deport millions.

It鈥檚 been more than a month since the Trump administration started its enforcement crackdown in Greater Los Angeles, sparking protests and isolated incidents of violence. The president followed up by sending National Guard troops and Marines to LA, he said, to quell unrest and protect federal buildings and agents 鈥� despite the city and state鈥檚 insistence that federal help was not needed.

But the tensions in and around Los Angeles have hardly abated. On Thursday, protesters and federal agents were l near a raid on a marijuana farm in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. A farmworker during the raid, though federal officials say he was not being chased by law enforcement at that time.

Depending on which side ultimately prevails in California's immigration deadlock, what happens here could have major implications for the rest of the country 鈥� politically, legally, and even economically.听听

鈥淲e are the canary in the coal mine,鈥� said LA City Councilmember听 at a press conference Monday. That morning, a phalanx of armed and masked federal agents, some of them on horseback, swept through MacArthur Park in her Latino immigrant neighborhood where children were in summer camp. The children were quickly ushered inside for their protection.

Businesses lament 鈥渆mpty鈥� LA

Across the region, many migrants, both documented and unauthorized, are hunkered down at home, afraid to venture out to work, shop, eat at restaurants, or attend church. Some streets are quiet, as if the pandemic has struck again 鈥� particularly in Latino neighborhoods, says Carmen Perez, who designs and sells flower-girl dresses from her crammed shop, , in the downtown fashion district.

Ms. Perez, who has a mostly Latino clientele, says foot traffic has come to a standstill since June 6, when federal agents descended on a nearby warehouse, detaining dozens.

鈥淎sk me if I sold something. My hands are empty,鈥� she laments. A retailer who鈥檚 been in business for years, she鈥檚 now making 鈥渕aybe鈥� $50 a day and recently had to dip into her savings to pay her $1,800 rent. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 want to come here. They don鈥檛 want to risk their life,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚 pray God to make my payments.鈥�

It鈥檚 a similar story all over these historic city blocks that make up LA鈥檚 fashion district, where small shops sit cheek-by-jowl, curvy mannequins line the sidewalks, and designer knockoffs and bolts of high-end fabric await customers. 鈥淓mpty, empty, empty,鈥� complains another retailer, in front of his stand of cowboy hats.

Since June 6, nearly 2,800 unauthorized people in Greater Los Angeles. Immigrant advocates, as well as some surrounding city governments, are offering aid for families that have become separated.

Many Angelenos point to one idea where they say officials could find common ground: Focus enforcement efforts on violent criminals instead of broad sweeps at car washes and Home Depot parking lots, and stop making a show of federal force at places like MacArthur Park.

Mayor Bass called the recent action there 鈥渙utrageous鈥� and 鈥渦n-American,鈥� and part of a political agenda to 鈥渢errorize鈥� immigrants. But that may be the point, if displays of force lead some unauthorized migrants to choose to leave on their own. U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino that agents may revisit the park and other places in and around LA. 鈥淚llegal aliens had the opportunity to self deport, now we鈥檒l help things along a bit,鈥� he said.

The vast majority of Americans support deporting immigrants without permanent legal status who have been convicted of a violent crime, according to a poll. A slight majority, 54%, believe Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been going too far.

Here on the street, public opinion is mixed. In the fashion district, one retailer said ICE has to leave. Two others said they support the raids, with one complaining of drug and human trafficking in the area. A private security guard at the federal building downtown said the raids must stop, but at the same time, he was unhappy that unauthorized people receive state benefits 鈥渙n a silver platter.鈥�

When it comes to political leadership, 鈥渂oth sides have an incentive to double down on their positions,鈥� says Mike Madrid, a Republican consultant in California and an expert on the Latino vote. But it鈥檚 a 鈥渓opsided fight,鈥� he says, in which the president has 鈥渆normous leverage鈥� 鈥� the military, federal dollars, a big media town where he鈥檒l get lots of coverage, and a Democratic stronghold where he fears no political backlash.

U.S.: LA needs to 鈥済et out of our way鈥�

That stronghold is part of the problem, says Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli, who serves California鈥檚 Central District, including LA. The federal government will not negotiate which laws to enforce, he says. Nor will it negotiate with leaders who insist that LA does not need to cooperate with the federal government for immigration enforcement.

The Trump administration escalated this battle June 30 with a against the city of Los Angeles, Mayor Bass, and the City Council. The lawsuit says LA is hindering federal agents as they go about their lawful enforcement duties and that, by barring only some agencies from places and information that could help with immigration enforcement, LA is discriminating against the federal government. The Constitution鈥檚 Supremacy Clause preempts local policies, reads the filing.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not asking them to do immigration [enforcement] for us, we鈥檙e asking them to get out of our way,鈥� says Mr. Essayli, who is among those bringing the suit.

Local officials maintain they are staying out of the way; they simply don鈥檛 have an obligation to help.

prohibits the use of state and local resources 鈥� such as police, schools, healthcare systems, and courts 鈥� for enforcing federal immigration laws. The law was enacted during the first Trump administration and upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

That law is consistent with a long-standing of not investigating immigration status or enforcing federal immigration law, which police say allows them to focus their limited resources on public safety and builds essential trust with the immigrant community.

LA鈥檚 sanctuary city builds on state law by prohibiting any use of city personnel or facilities for federal immigration enforcement. With few exceptions, it prohibits data sharing that might reveal a person鈥檚 immigration status. To this end, officers do not collect or record a person鈥檚 place of birth unless it is directly related to a criminal investigation.

The boundaries for federal requirements around sharing that type of information haven鈥檛 been constitutionally tested, says Justin Levitt, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School. 鈥淲e might see from this lawsuit a little bit of clarification,鈥� he says.

Mr. Essayli argues that local policies extend far beyond the city鈥檚 right to opt out of federal law enforcement. The federal government wants to work with local law enforcement so they can focus on public safety risks together, he says. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 do that right now. They won鈥檛 do it. And so we have to go out and basically do all these enforcement operations out in the community.鈥�

In a countermove, a coalition of LA and surrounding cities, the American Civil Liberties Union, and immigrant rights groups听 the Department of Homeland Security. In describing its lawsuit, the ACLU federal agents of 鈥渁bducting and disappearing community members using unlawful stop and arrest practices.鈥� Those detained include a 鈥渟hocking鈥� number of U.S. citizens and people here lawfully, the suit says, asking a judge to stop the raids.

In two temporary restraining orders issued late Friday, Judge Maame E. Frimpong of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California directed federal immigration agents to stop racial profiling and denying detainees the right to consult with a lawyer.听

Mr. Essayli denies that anyone here lawfully is being 鈥渟wept up鈥� in deportation efforts, and the government vehemently denies it is using racial profiling in arrests.

Bass defends city of immigrants

Mayor Karen Bass is resolute 鈥� and furious. 鈥淚 personally won鈥檛 be intimidated by these tactics,鈥� she said last week, demanding that the raids end.

She never fails to point out that the City of Angels is a city of immigrants and dependent on migrant labor. 鈥淲e support Angelenos, period 鈥� regardless of when they got here, where they came from, or why they鈥檙e here,鈥� she said this week after the federal mobilization at MacArthur Park.

The region is proud of its diverse ethnicities from all over the world. One-third of the residents in LA are foreign-born, and half of that group does not hold U.S. citizenship,听. Latinos make up nearly half of the population.

鈥淢any parts of the state are racially and ethnically very integrated. People work in the same place with people who don鈥檛 look like them. They marry people, they date people that don鈥檛 look like them,鈥� says Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA鈥檚 school of public affairs, and a former elected official. 鈥淭hose are the kinds of things that are kind of run-of-the-mill now.鈥�

The mid-1990s were decisive in California鈥檚 relationship with the Latino population, says Mr. Madrid, author of 鈥淭he Latino Century: How America鈥檚 Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy.鈥� In 1994, Californians passed Proposition 187, which essentially barred unauthorized immigrants from accessing government services. It was the voters鈥� reaction to illegal immigration surging across the southern border and into their state.

The measure was found unconstitutional, but its passage awakened a sleeping giant of Latino voters and aspiring Latino politicians. With a gridlocked Congress unable to enact meaningful immigration reform or deliver on border security, the state simply moved on, integrating the unauthorized population with driver鈥檚 licenses, in-state tuition, and health care.

Demographically, the rest of the country is now at the point of 1990s California, where it鈥檚 no longer possible to 鈥渦nmix the cake batter,鈥� points out Mr. Madrid. The Census Bureau projects that non-Hispanic whites will.

鈥淲hat Trump is trying to do is create a normal of what it was like 35-40 years ago. But that is impossible. Where is that labor going to come from?鈥� He added that the president 鈥渕ay win the political battle, but can鈥檛 win the demographic battle because you can鈥檛 beat time and history.鈥�

Raquel Rom颧n holds that history close. The native Angeleno is part of a grassroots collective that has sprung up to help alert the immigrant community about enforcement sweeps and offer help to people who are impacted.

The Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network operates a hotline that people can call during a raid. The network will send someone to verify the incident, determine which agency has detained a person and their location, and help family members figure out next steps.

The sweeps have been hardest on mixed-status families, especially when young people become caretakers because a parent has been detained, says Ms. Rom颧n. The Boyle Heights group offers connections to legal services, helps with rent and utilities, and runs a food pantry that is now serving only half its usual 800 families a week because people are too afraid to show up, she says.

Ms. Rom颧n says everyone should have a way to become citizens. Two-thirds of Americans agree, to a degree: 鈥渕ost undocumented immigrants in the U.S. a pathway to legal status,鈥� according to a recent poll.

Ms. Rom颧n wants local and federal leaders to come together like they did during the January wildfires. 鈥淟et鈥檚 have a conversation, a roundtable, with different people where we could come to some sort of agreement,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat would be the dream.鈥�

Editor's note: This story was updated Friday evening with news of a federal court ruling and a confirmed report that one farmworker died from injuries sustained during an ICE raid in Ventura County, Calif.听听