City Issues Statement Following Federal Immigration Ruling Involving Pasadena Plaintiffs

City officials issued a public statement Saturday morning in response to a federal court ruling handed down the previous day that directly impacts several Pasadena residents involved in a broader immigration enforcement case.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the Pedro Vasquez Perdomo v. Kristi Noem, et al. lawsuit, determining that federal immigration officials had violated constitutional rights during enforcement operations across six Southern California counties.

Attorneys representing Pasadena were present at the July 10 hearing and had moved to intervene in the case.

Among the named plaintiffs were three individuals from Pasadena.

Early on June 18, the trio — Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, Carlos Alexander Osorto, and Isaac Villegas Molina — were detained near a bus stop outside Winchell’s Donuts on N. El Molino Ave.

The court concluded that detentions carried out without reasonable suspicion constituted a violation of the Fourth Amendment, and also ruled that the denial of legal representation breached the Fifth Amendment.

In its official statement, the City of Pasadena emphasized the significance of the Friday ruling: “[The] decision affirms that the United States Constitution protects the fundamental rights of all people,” the city said.

The temporary restraining order mandates that federal authorities alter their enforcement procedures to ensure compliance with constitutional protections, including in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

Further developments in the case will be closely monitored by Pasadena officials, who described the ruling as a reaffirmation of constitutional safeguards for residents within the city’s jurisdiction.

Here is the City of Pasadena statement in full:

STATEMENT ISSUED BY CITY OF PASADENA

July 11, “the federal court for the Central District of California granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the Pedro Vasquez Perdomo v. Kristi Noem, et al. lawsuit, requiring the federal government to comply with the United States Constitution while engaging in immigration enforcement activities in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura. U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ruled that the evidence presented showed that federal immigration enforcement officials engaged in unlawful detentions without reasonable suspicion—a Fourth Amendment violation—when they seized the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including three plaintiffs from Pasadena.

“She also ruled that the federal government violated the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution by failing to provide access to legal representation to those detained. Today’s ruling affirms that the United States Constitution protects the fundamental rights of all people.

“Attorneys for the City of Pasadena, a proposed intervenor in this lawsuit, were among the lawyers who appeared at yesterday’s hearing before Judge Frimpong.”