U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, who presides in the Central District of California, had already ordered federal officials back in January to speed up the process of copying data from personal phones belonging to more than 800 agents connected to the 2025 immigration raids in Los Angeles. This week, Frimpong went further, slapping the government with a $500-per-day fine until it complies with the original order to hand over the devices for evidence review — and requiring the federal government to cover legal costs that plaintiffs’ attorneys racked up trying to obtain the records in the first place.

The contempt finding follows an admission in June, when DHS attorneys told the court that the agency simply hadn’t turned over the records. According to those attorneys, government-issued phones were being processed at a pace of roughly three devices every two weeks — a timeline that, plaintiffs’ lawyers noted, would take nearly four years to complete at that rate.

Attorneys representing immigrants swept up in Operation At Large, the name given to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Los Angeles last year, say the phones could hold evidence supporting claims that federal agents engaged in a pattern of racial profiling during the operation.

Back in May, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union wrote that DHS had “simply proceeded to thwart” Frimpong’s order, both by slow-walking the imaging of government-issued phones and by openly resisting the directive as it applied to agents’ personal devices.

Last month, ACLU attorneys asked Frimpong to issue a separate order explicitly barring agents from detaining people based on their race or ethnicity. In their filing, they pointed to text messages and body-camera footage showing agents using slurs — including “wetback” and “tonks” — to describe working-class Latino residents they intended to detain, according to court records.

“Federal agents aren’t just violating the Constitution out on the streets — the government is also violating court orders by deliberately withholding critical evidence about its immigration enforcement operations,” said Mayra Joachin, an attorney with the ACLU of Southern California.

DHS has not responded to inquiries about whether agents’ use of the term “tonks” violated agency policy.

Following Frimpong’s contempt ruling, DHS issued a written statement identical to one it released just last week in response to another development in the case.

“Our agents are focused on protecting the American people, not manufacturing outrage,” the statement read. “Where is the media outrage for the families who lost a loved one to a crime committed by an illegal alien?”

Original source: CalMatters

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U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, who sits in the Central District of California, issued the ruling Tuesday after finding that DHS had failed to comply with a January order directing the agency to expedite the imaging of personal cell phones belonging to more than 800 agents who took part in the 2025 immigration raids across Los Angeles.

As part of the contempt finding, Frimpong ordered the federal government to pay $500 a day until it complies with the discovery order, along with covering the legal costs plaintiffs’ attorneys have incurred trying to obtain the records.

The dispute came to a head in June, when DHS attorneys acknowledged in court that the records still had not been handed over. They told the judge that government-issued devices were being processed at a pace of roughly three phones every two weeks — a timeline that plaintiffs’ lawyers pointed out would take close to four years to finish.

The case stems from Operation At Large, the name given to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement push in Los Angeles last year. Attorneys representing immigrants swept up in those operations argue that the withheld phone records could reveal evidence of racial profiling by federal agents during the raids.

In a filing back in May, attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union accused DHS of deliberately undermining Frimpong’s order, writing that the agency had “simply proceeded to thwart” it “by dragging their feet on imaging government-issued cell phones and by openly defying the order as to personal phones.”

Last month, ACLU lawyers went a step further, asking Frimpong to issue a separate order barring agents from detaining people based on race. In their request, they pointed to text messages and body camera footage showing agents allegedly using slurs — including the terms “wets” and “tonks” — to single out working-class Latino residents for stops, according to court filings.

“Not only are federal agents violating the Constitution on the streets, the government is violating court orders by intentionally withholding critical evidence about its immigration enforcement operations,” said Mayra Joachin, an attorney with the ACLU of Southern California.

DHS has not addressed questions about whether agents’ alleged use of the slur “tonks” violated department policy.

Following Frimpong’s contempt ruling, the agency released a written statement nearly identical to one it had issued the previous week in response to another development in the case.

“Our agents are focused on protecting the American people — not entertaining performative outrage,” the statement read. “Where is the media’s outrage for Angel families who lost a loved one to illegal alien crime?”

Original source: CalMatters

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The agreement was initiated in response to President Donald Trump’s declaration of COVID-19 as a national emergency and falls under the Economy Act, which authorizes federal agencies to provide services or supplies to other federal agencies on a reimbursable basis.

As part of the agreement, trained VA medical professionals at certain VA medical centers are vaccinating DHS employees using DHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine allocations.

“This is a team effort to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible to protect our Veterans and citizens from COVID-19,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.

VA is vaccinating DHS employees who are in close proximity to the eight VA medical centers listed below. The sites were jointly agreed upon by VA and DHS. VA anticipates expanding the list of sites to provide vaccinations to DHS employees at VA locations nationwide: 

• Phoenix VA Health Care System in Arizona.
• El Paso VA Health Care System in El Paso, Texas.
• South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio, Texas.
• Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System in Harlingen, Texas.
• Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach, California.
• Brooklyn VA Medical Center? in New York.
• Washington DC VA Medical Center.
• Miami VA Healthcare System in Florida.

VA will continue to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to Veterans and health care personnel per its COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. Veterans can get the latest information and sign up to receive updates on VA’s COVID-19 vaccine webpage.

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