A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision that bars federal immigration agents from conducting roving patrols or randomly detaining people in Los Angeles without probable cause.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely rejected the Trump administration’s appeal, which requested that the court pause the order while the appeal is pending.
The three-judge panel, all Democratic appointees, denied the request after hearing arguments in San Francisco last week.
The ruling upholds a restraining order that temporarily puts a stop to indiscriminate immigration raids and arrests in seven Southern California counties, including L.A., ABC 7 News reported.
On July 11, 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 the indiscriminate arrests and ensure those detained receive due process and access to legal counsel. The Trump administration immediately filed an appeal.
During arguments before the appeals court, U.S. Department of Justice Attorney Jacob Roth insisted that the immigration operations were perfectly legal, carefully targeted and conducted with probable cause to make arrests.
“The officers are instructed to find reasonable suspicion before an arrest,” Roth told the panel, adding that Frimpong’s restraining order “is fundamentally flawed on multiple levels,” per another ABC 7 News report.
The decision dealt a blow to the Trump administration’s deportation efforts in Southern California, which has a large immigrant population. Many SoCal cities also defy federal immigration law with sanctuary city policies that protect and release illegal immigrants, even offering them cash assistance if they are too afraid to go to work.
An eventual appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is expected, where six of the nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents, ABC 7 reported.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” last month: “We will appeal, and we will win.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson took issue with the appeals court ruling.
“No federal judge has the authority to dictate immigration policy — that authority rests with Congress and the president,” Jackson said in a statement to City News Service. “Enforcement operations require careful planning and execution; skills far beyond the purview or jurisdiction of any judge. The Trump administration looks forward to continuing to implement its immigration policies lawfully.”’
It’s the latest legal maneuvering that follows a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of several immigrants who were arrested. The city of Los Angeles and other municipalities joined the lawsuit, alleging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used racial profiling to unlawfully arrest people.
The lawsuit claims ICE officers targeted individuals based on their appearance, language and where they lived or worked and violated their Constitutional rights.
The suit also alleges that federal officials have unconstitutionally arrested and detained people in order to meet arbitrary arrest quotas set by the Trump administration, ABC 7 reported.
The three-judge appeals panel ruled that the plaintiffs would likely be able to prove that federal agents had carried out arrests based on racial profiling and other illegal tactics, Reuters reported.
Frimpong has scheduled a hearing in the case on Sept. 24 in downtown L.A., ABC 7 reported.
Frimpong’s first restraining order bars federal agents from conducting detention stops in the district unless the agent has “reasonable suspicion” the person stopped is in “violation of U.S. immigration law.”
The appeals court agreed with the lower court in blocking federal officials from detaining people based solely on “apparent race or ethnicity,” speaking Spanish or accented English, or being at locations such as a “bus stop, car wash, tow yard, day laborer pick up site, agricultural site, etc.”
A second ruling orders the federal government to allow immigrants who have been detained to have access to counsel, and repeats concerns about the conditions in which they’ve been detained. Attorneys claim they are being blocked from meeting and conferring with their clients, also in violation of the Constitution.
A coalition of civil rights, immigrant rights and local government agencies sought the order in response to widespread immigration raids and arrests that began in early June throughout southern California.
They alleged ICE agents were detaining people in Los Angeles without warning or reasonable suspicion, which sparked outrage and fear among the immigrant community.
Immigrant rights advocates and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass praised the decision and called the restraining order a victory for the city.
