Trump administration asks Supreme Court to lift limits on ‘roving’ LA-area immigration raids

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to lift a judge’s limits on “roving” immigration raids in the Los Angeles area.

A federal judge last month ruled Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were conducting raids that likely ran afoul of constitutional protections against unreasonable seizures.

The limits prohibit ICE from relying on someone’s apparent race, use of Spanish, presence at a particular location or their type of work to form reasonable suspicion to stop and detain them.

“No one thinks that speaking Spanish or working in construction always creates reasonable suspicion. Nor does anyone suggest those are the only factors federal agents ever consider,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the administration’s Supreme Court papers.

“But in many situations, such factors—alone or in combination—can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States,” he continued.

Sauer said the ruling interferes with law enforcement in an epicenter for ICE operations, estimating that 2 million people in the country illegally live in the judicial district where the ruling applies. It covers the Central District of California, which spans Los Angeles and surrounding areas of the state, including Riverside, San Luis Obispo and San Bernardino.

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, an appointee of former President Biden, imposed the limits last month as a lawsuit filed by five migrants stopped by ICE and four private organizations proceeds.

Sauer contended that the plaintiffs don’t have legal standing to bring the case because they don’t face immediate risk of being subjected to an unconstitutional stop. Sauer also argued the judge’s ruling misapplies the Fourth Amendment and flouts the Supreme Court’s recent decision clawing back universal injunctions.

The administration’s Supreme Court appeal comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely left the judge’s ruling in place.

The Trump administration has regularly sought the high court’s emergency intervention when lower judges block major policy priorities. Thursday’s filing marks the administration’s 22nd emergency application at the Supreme Court since taking office, and almost all have been successful.

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