A Los Angeles federal judge issued a pair of temporary restraining orders Friday limiting the ability of U.S. immigration agents to detain people absent reasonable suspicion beyond merely their race, ethnicity or occupation, while also requiring that detainees be given access to legal counsel.
The orders stem from a lawsuit filed by Public Counsel and the American Civil Liberties Union accusing federal immigration officials from carrying out “roving patrols” and detaining people without warrants and regardless of whether they have actual proof the detainees are in the country illegally.
In a 52-page ruling issued early Friday evening, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, an appointee of then-President Joe Biden, barred immigration agencies “from conducting detentive stops in this district unless the agent or officer has reasonable suspicion that the person to be stopped is within the United States in violation of U.S. immigration law.”
The order also bars agents from relying solely on factors such as race/ethnicity, speaking with an accent or being at locations such as bus stops, day laborer sites, car washes or agricultural sites as a basis for detaining people.
In a separate order, Frimpong ordered immigration agencies to ensure detainees are provided with access to attorneys or legal representatives seven days a week, and they must be provided with access to confidential telephone calls with attorneys at no charge to the detainees — and those calls “shall not be screened, recorded or otherwise monitored.”
During a court hearing Thursday, Sean Skedzielewski, a government attorney, denied allegations that agents were conducting illegal detentions of immigrants, insisting that Department of Homeland Security enforcement activities are based on proper evidence and the “totality of the circumstances.”
But Frimpong appeared critical of the government’s stance, saying she wanted to hear more specifics and fewer generalities.
In his argument, Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, told the court that most immigration stops do not happen to white people.
“It’s happening with people who appear Latino,” he said, adding that the government’s roving immigration agents “are stopping people and asking questions later.”
Frimpong said it appears that “high-level government officials” seem to approve of the tactics.
Asked by the judge why it was necessary for agents to wear masks that hide their identities, Skedzielewski responded that government agents were trying to avoid being “doxed” if their identities were discovered.
“I believe these events are unprecedented in American history,” plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Rosenbaum of the Public Counsel law firm told the court, referring to the events of the last month when immigration raids across the region have prompted demonstrations and panic in Latino communities.
Attorneys representing Southern California residents, workers and advocacy groups filed suit July 2 in Los Angeles federal court against the federal government on behalf of people who allege they were unlawfully stopped or detained by federal agents. Plaintiffs contend they were stopped based only on their skin color or occupation as workers in jobs that traditionally largely hire immigrants.
The two main plaintiffs in the case said they were arrested by armed, masked agents merely for sitting at a bus stop.
City and county officials from throughout Los Angeles County said Tuesday they are planning to join the suit.
The lawsuit alleges federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have engaged in unconstitutional and unlawful immigration enforcement raids by targeting Angelenos based on their perceived race and ethnicity and also denying detainees constitutionally mandated due process.
The White House issued a statement Tuesday morning defending federal immigration activity.
“The brave men and women of ICE are under siege by deranged Democrats — but undeterred in their mission,” the White House said in a statement. “Every day, these heroes put their own lives on the line to get the worst of the worst — criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, and other violent criminals — off our streets and out of our neighborhoods.”
DHS officials on social media have also denied allegations of illegal activities during enforcement operations.
“Claims that individuals have been `targeted’ by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE. DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence,” according to DHS.
“ICE detention facilities have higher standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens,” DHS previously stated. “These types of smears are designed to demonize and villainize our brave ICE law enforcement. This garbage has directly led to a nearly 700 percent increase in the assaults on ICE law enforcement officers.”