The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors late Tuesday, July 1 voted to pursue lawsuits and any legal means to prevent federal immigration raids being carried out without probable cause, or using unjust seizure tactics and denying due process.

Earlier in the day, the Los Angeles City Council voted to pursue legal action aimed at protecting Angelenos by seeking “injunctive relief from unconstitutional searches, seizures and detentions.”

Related: LA City Council to seek legal actions against ‘unconstitutional searches’

“ICE needs to follow the Constitution and respect the constitutional rights of our residents,” said Supervisor Hilda Solis, who brought the county motion approved by a unanimous 5-0 vote.

Since Southern California raids began on June 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, with help from other federal agencies, have taken at least 1,618 individuals from their homes and workplaces, making arrests on public streets, parking lots, bus benches, churches, workplaces and other locations, the county motion reads.

Across the county, in the city of L.A. and in numerous smaller cities and communities, those who appear to be federal agents often ride in unmarked sedans or sports cars wearing street clothes and full cloth masks hiding their faces, without showing badges or ID, according to the motion. They have detained people indiscriminately, at times throwing detainees to the ground, even taking U.S. citizens.

Solis was outraged over the arrest of a man in unincorporated Valinda, near the city of La Puente, on Saturday, June 28. Videos by witnesses show the man bleeding while being detained, she said.

Supervisor Janice Hahn spoke about the arrest of two individuals by ICE agents at a car wash in Torrance, saying the video of the take-down she watched captured by the owner was “horrifying.” She was hopeful the Office of County Counsel can find ways to protect residents from illegal and unconstitutional tactics by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.

“They are being thrown to the ground, their faces being smashed into the asphalt,” Hahn described. “It is not the country I believe we are meant to be. People documented or undocumented have certain inalienable rights.”

The county reported numerous instances of individuals questioned and detained without a judicial warrant. Many arrests are done on appearance, by the color of their skin, the county contends. The county motion argues that these tactics are a violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures afforded all people living in the United States.

The board asked for the Office of County Counsel to initiate legal actions based on potential violations of residents’ civil rights, including the unlawful stopping and detaining of individuals “without reasonable suspicion,” or without probable cause of a valid warrant.

The immigration raid ramp-up has been driven by President Trump’s campaign pledge to deport the “worst of the worst” immigrants in the country illegally and achieving the largest mass deportation in the history of the country.

Administration officials have defended the arrests, which they say are sweeping up “dangerous criminals” who are a threat to society.

However, the arrests of long-time immigrants who own vendor push carts, work in construction or at restaurants and have been raising families in Southern California for decades have spurred a backlash from ordinary citizens, immigrant rights groups, labor groups and most recently from local Republican legislators.

Six local Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, whose district includes Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, urged the Trump administration to focus on deporting violent criminals living in the U.S. illegally, not those who are law-abiding, employed and supporting their families.

In a letter to Donald Trump dated June 27, the six legislators asked for a “modern process” that allows for a pathway to legal status for non-criminal undocumented immigrants who have “longstanding ties to our communities.”

The Republican lawmakers said in their letter that the kind of indiscriminate, sweeping raids causes many workers with legal immigration status to stay home and not report to work out of fear of being deported. They have heard from business owners who are having trouble staffing and staying afloat.

Ernesto Medrano, executive secretary for the Los Angeles and Orange County Building Trades, spoke out about how the raids are affecting his members. “ Our members in job sites have been turned into targets, not because of wronging, but because of assumptions, because of profiling, because of fear,” Medrano said.

Carlos Mejia Osorio, 42, a father of five children who works as a handyman and contractor, was arrested by ICE agents while shopping for supplies in front of his son at a Home Depot in Burbank on June 28.

Family members told KTLA Osorio came to the U.S. illegally from Guatemala 20 years ago and has worked hard to support his family and also pays taxes. He was hired to fix the fence of a neighbor.

Also on June 28, Rosalina Luna Vargas, a mother walking with her two sons was apprehended by ICE agents at Del Mar Boulevard and Catalina Avenue in Pasadena, near Caltech. Her children formed a human wall around her. One of her sons shouted: “I can’t lose my mom!” Agents left, then came back and arrested her.

A vigil was held to bring light to the incident Monday night at the location where Vargas was arrested.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Vargas had entered the country from Mexico years ago and therefore was an undocumented resident.

“When federal law enforcement officers encounter individuals who are in the country illegally, they will take them into custody and determine their immigration disposition,” she said.

Todd Lyons, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has defended his tactics against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed, saying that his agency has arrested “dangerous criminals.”

But a recent report of ICE raids in New York and Los Angeles in the first 10 days of June found almost 60% of those arrested had no criminal convictions, nor any pending charges.

As a companion motion, the board voted to create workshops and know-your-rights cards for people who want to peacefully protest ICE raids. Many youth who have done so have been arrested and end up in juvenile facilities. LAPD reported 500 arrests at recent anti ICE-raid protests in the county, Solis said.

“This will reduce the number of young people who end up in our juvenile system,” Solis said. “We must ensure they feel empowered to use their voice and exercise their First Amendment rights in a peaceful matter.”

SCNG staff writers Gladys B Vargas, Teresa Liu, Kaitlyn Schallhorn and correspondent Julianna Lozada  contributed to this report.