Federal immigration agents regain power in Los Angeles after Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court on Monday, September 8, lifted restrictions for federal agents to keep conducting immigration operations for now in Los Angeles. 

The recent court ruling could lead to heightened immigration enforcement in Latino communities across Los Angeles County, with concerns that individuals may be targeted based on broad factors such as speaking Spanish or frequenting known day laborer gathering spots.

On July 11, federal judge Maame E. Frimpong issued a restraining order limiting the ability of U.S. immigration officers to detain people without probable cause based on race, ethnicity or occupation. The order also prohibited the Trump administration from denying detainees access to lawyers.

Now the administration has been granted the emergency lift to keep the ongoing raids; this is more likely to have a huge impact not just in L.A. but also across the country, which upholds President Donald Trump’s mass deportation promises during his campaign.

In a 6-3 decision, the court sided with the Trump administration, ruling that federal immigration officers may briefly detain and question individuals about their legal status in the United States. The Court upheld the use of a “totality of circumstances” standard for reasonable suspicion and allowed officers to base stops on the full context of what they know and observe at the moment.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic to serve on the court, issued a rebuke of the Supreme Court ruling that lifts restrictions on immigration enforcement operation tactics. She cited the Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which protects against unlawful searches and seizures.

"We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish and appears to work a low-wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent," Sotomayor wrote.

“This administration’s war on immigrants is going to fail,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). “Very soon, we’ll be back in court continuing the fight against these obviously illegal policies, and we’re confident that the judge will once again see, as she already saw that there is absolutely nothing legal about ICE targeting people based on their race, how they speak or their profession. We will continue to watch, document, and protest peacefully what we see is lawless, mass round ups and a federal policy of cruelty and detention.”