Several dozen protesters stage a demonstration on the Sixth Street Bridge between downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights protesting ICE deportation operations in LA on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"But, apparently seeking to manipulate the process of judicial assignment, the original petitioners' counsel then filed an amended complaint adding a host of new individual and organizational plaintiffs, leveling systemic challenges to federal immigration enforcement in the Los Angeles area," the Trump administration wrote. "And a day later, on the eve of the July 4 holiday, they filed an ‘emergency’ ex parte motion asking the court to impose a straight-jacket injunction that would vastly restrict the government's ability to stop and detain anyone on suspicion of being unlawfully present in the United States."
The Trump administration also said the court gave them just two business days to respond to hundreds of pages of discovery.
"The result is a sweeping, district-wide injunction that threatens to bobble lawful immigration enforcement by hanging a Damocles sword of contempt over every immigration stop," the Trump administration said. "The government seeks an immediate stay of that untenable order pending appeal, and an administrative stay in the meantime."
The Trump administration argued that Frimpong ignored the recent Supreme Court ruling involving the president that rejects universal injunctions – the judge’s ruling on Friday was not nationwide but instead was focused on Los Angeles and the Central District of California.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SUES LOS ANGELES OVER SANCTUARY POLICIES THAT 'IMPEDE' ICE OPERATIONS
A woman waves a Mexican flag amidst tear gas from law enforcement during a protest in Paramount, Calif., Saturday, June 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Frimpong said during the hearing on Thursday that she was leaning toward granting the TRO Friday.
"I think it’s important for the court not to burden otherwise lawful law enforcement activities," the judge said.
The case was initially brought in June as a routine petition from three detainees, but it has ballooned into a weighty lawsuit challenging the way ICE operates.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, on Friday, praised the federal court’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order halting what she described as "unconstitutional and reckless raids conducted under the Trump Administration."
She characterized the federal actions as aggressive and harmful and reaffirmed Los Angeles’ commitment to protecting its residents' rights.
Immigration rights groups and local governments, including the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver, and West Hollywood, have all intervened in the case and Democrat-led states have filed an amicus brief in support of them.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP TO RETURN CONTROL OF CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD TO NEWSOM
Protesters face off with police outside of a federal building in downtown Los Angeles for an anti-Trump "No Kings Day" demonstration in a city that has been the focus of protests against Trump's immigration raids on June 14, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The plaintiffs alleged in court papers that ICE is "indiscriminately" arresting people with "brown skin" at Home Depots, car washes, farms and more. Authorities made the arrests with no "reasonable suspicion" and sometimes mistakenly apprehended U.S. citizens in the process, all in violation of the Fourth Amendment, attorneys wrote.
The plaintiffs argued the Trump administration gave ICE an unrealistic quota of 3,000 arrests per day, causing officers to feel pressured to blow past legal requirements to achieve those numbers.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is disputing the allegations and denies wrongdoing.
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Department of Justice attorneys wrote that immigration arrests, of which there have been nearly 3,000 across California since early June, have been carried out legally.
Fox News’ Ashley Oliver, Bill Melugin, Cameron Arcand, Jasmine Baehr and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-seeks-overturn-federal-restraining-order-limiting-ice-operations-los-angeles