In another major legal victory for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court ruled that federal agents can resume immigration raids in Los Angeles.
The decision reverses a lower court’s decision that barred what lawsuit plaintiffs alleged were “indiscriminate” or “roving” immigration stops in the city.
The Supreme Court issued a stay in the case of Perdomo v. Noem on Monday, meaning the ruling is temporary while the case proceeds in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The high court handed down the 6-3 decision, issued along ideological lines, as the Trump administration announced more immigration sweeps in other Democratic-run cities.
“SCOTUS’s stay is a win for the safety and security of the American people and the rule of law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X. “Our brave @DHSGov law enforcement will continue our operations in LA to remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens that pose a danger to public safety.”
The ruling allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, to continue carrying out immigration operations in the Los Angeles area and remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from the streets.
“DHS law enforcement will not be slowed down and will continue to arrest and remove the murderers, rapists, gang members, and other criminal illegal aliens that (Mayor) Karen Bass continues to give safe harbor,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, posting a copy of the court’s decision on X.
The court battle stems from a lawsuit filed by several immigration rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, and the city of Los Angeles and other municipalities, alleging ICE agents were racially profiling and illegally detaining people.
The lawsuit claims ICE officers targeted individuals based on their appearance, language and where they lived or worked and violated their Constitutional rights.
In July, California’s U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong — a Joe Biden appointee — issued a 52-page order granting two temporary restraining orders to halt what the plaintiffs describe as “indiscriminate arrests” and ensure those detained receive due process and access to legal counsel. The Trump administration immediately filed an appeal.
Last month, a federal appeals court with Democratic appointees upheld Frimpong’s ruling, temporarily halting federal agents from conducting roving patrols or randomly detaining people in Los Angeles.
To the mainstream media’s chagrin, DHS said there are no “indiscriminate stops” being made. The Supreme Court applied longstanding precedent regarding what qualifies as “reasonable suspicion” under the Fourth Amendment.
“What makes someone a target of ICE is if they are illegally in the U.S.,” DHS said in a news release. “DHS enforces federal immigration law without fear, favor, or prejudice.”
McLaughlin added on X: “The @NYTimes continues to humiliate itself and showcase its incompetence. ‘Indiscriminate stops’ is wildly inaccurate.”
The Supreme Court’s majority did not include an explanation for the ruling. In his opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh discussed the federal government’s duty to enforce immigration laws on the books. He wrote that the Judiciary does not set immigration policy or decide enforcement priorities, per the DHS release.
Kavanaugh added in his opinion that a combination of factors — such as race — could provide authorities with reasonable suspicion to stop a person and inquire about their immigration status, Fox News Digital reported.
“To be clear, apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion; under this Court’s case law regarding immigration stops, however, it can be a ‘relevant factor’ when considered along with other salient factors,” Kavanaugh wrote.
“Immigration stops based on reasonable suspicion of illegal presence have been an important component of U.S. immigration enforcement for decades, across several presidential administrations,” Kavanaugh wrote. “Reasonable suspicion means only that immigration officers may briefly stop the individual and inquire about immigration status.”
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli weighed in on social media and appeared on Fox News’ “America Reports” to respond to the decision. Federal prosecutors argued the order was overly broad and hindered ICE’s ability to apprehend and remove illegal immigrants in Los Angeles.
“It’s such an obvious statement and position,” Essayli said of Kavanaugh’s opinion. “We’ve been enforcing immigration laws for over 100 years here in the United States. This is what we have been saying all along. Our officers do not target people based on race. They use what is called reasonable suspicion.”
Reasonable suspicion includes “all types of factors,” and the restraining order “paralyzed our ability to do anything,” Essayli added.
LA Mayor Karen Bass, along with news outlets across southern California, has run with the narrative that ICE agents are illegally detaining and “disappearing” people.
“I want the entire nation to hear me when I say this isn’t just an attack on the people of LA, this is an attack on every person in every city in this country. Today’s ruling is not only dangerous – it’s un-American and threatens the fabric of personal freedom in the U.S.,” Bass said in her own message on X.
Border Czar Tom Homan has been vocal about targeting sanctuary cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, where politicians refuse to cooperate with ICE. Instead, they protect and coddle illegal immigrants by providing them with food, shelter and cash assistance while turning a blind eye to Americans who are victims of crime.
Homan praised the Supreme Court decision, while slamming MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski on Tuesday after she accused ICE of having ‘disappeared’ people. In a clip shared on social media and news outlets, Homan said ICE is enforcing the laws enacted by Congress and doing what he’s done for 40 years.
“Here’s the rhetoric again, right. That is a ridiculous thing to say,” he said. “ICE is doing the same thing we have done for decades but because of the last four years ICE wasn’t allowed to enforce the law. ICE was told to sit back and ‘you can’t arrest an illegal alien for simply being here illegally. You have to wait until they commit a serious crime and get convicted of that crime.’”
Homan added: “If you don’t like what ICE is doing, go protest to Congress. We are arresting people who are in the country illegally and are public safety threats.”
