It was unclear Saturday how the Trump administration will proceed with its ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration after a Los Angeles federal judge issued a pair of temporary restraining orders limiting the ability of federal agents to detain people without reasonable suspicion beyond their race, ethnicity or occupation.
Friday’s 52-page ruling from U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong bars 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 ruling, Frimpong ordered immigration agencies to ensure detainees are provided with access to attorneys or legal representatives seven days a week, and access to confidential telephone calls with attorneys at no charge to the detainees — and that those calls “shall not be screened, recorded or otherwise monitored.”
“There are really two questions in controversy that this court must decide today,” Frimpong wrote. “First, are the individuals and organization who brought this lawsuit likely to succeed in proving that the federal government is indeed conducting roving patrols without reasonable suspicion and denying access to lawyers? This court decides — based on all the evidence presented — that they are.
“And second, what should be done about it? The individuals and organizations who have brought this lawsuit have made a fairly modest request: that this court order the federal government to stop. For the reasons stated below, the court grants their request.”
After the ruling, U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles Bill Essayli insisted that enforcement agencies have adhered to the law.
“We strongly disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit and maintain that our agents have never detained individuals without proper legal justification,” Essayli said. “Our federal agents will continue to enforce the law and abide by the U.S. Constitution.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a defiant response on its social media pages, writing, “A district judge is undermining the will of the American people. America’s brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists — truly the worst of the worst from Golden State communities. LAW AND ORDER WILL PREVAIL!”
Federal officials did not say whether they will appeal Frimpong’s ruling.
The lawsuit was filed July 2 in Los Angeles federal court by Public Counsel, the American Civil Liberties Union and attorneys representing Southern California residents, workers and advocacy groups on behalf of people who allege they were unlawfully stopped or detained by federal agents targeting locations where immigrant workers are traditionally hired. It accused immigration officials of carrying out “roving patrols” and detaining people without warrants and regardless of whether they have actual proof they are in the country legally.
It further alleged that federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, engaged in unconstitutional and unlawful immigration enforcement raids by targeting Angelenos based on their perceived race and ethnicity and denying detainees constitutionally mandated due process.
The lawsuit accused the DHS of operating a program of “abducting and disappearing” community members using unlawful arrest tactics, then confining detainees in illegal conditions while denying access to attorneys.
The two main plaintiffs in the case said they were arrested by armed, masked agents merely for sitting at a bus stop.
“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 past month when immigration raids across the region have prompted demonstrations and panic in Latino communities.
In a statement following Friday’s ruling, Rosenbaum called the decision “historic.”
“The court ruled clearly that DHS’s unlawful and abusive practice of denying attorney access to car wash workers, nannies, and other hardworking community members rounded up and detained in cruel and coercive conditions — without beds, meals, or even minimal hygiene — must end immediately,” he said. “The question now for our federal government is whether it is prepared to conduct its operations under the rule of law. To date, the answer has been no.”
Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, hailed the ruling.
“No matter the color of their skin, what language they speak, or where they work, everyone is guaranteed constitutional rights to protect them from unlawful stops,” Tajsar said in a statement. “While it does not take a federal judge to recognize that marauding bands of masked, rifle-toting goons have been violating ordinary people’s rights throughout Southern California, we are hopeful that today’s ruling will be a step toward accountability for the federal government’s flagrant lawlessness that we have all been witnessing.”
During a court hearing Thursday, Sean Skedzielewski, a government attorney, denied allegations that agents were conducting illegal detentions of immigrants, insisting that DHS enforcement activities are based on proper evidence and the “totality of the circumstances.”
But Frimpong, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, appeared critical of the government’s stance, saying attorneys were offering only generalities without providing adequate legal arguments to back their position.
In his argument, Tajsar told the court most immigration stops do not happen to white people.
“It’s happening with people who appear Latino,” he said, adding the government’s roving immigration agents “are stopping people and asking questions later.”
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.
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.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said “while California leaders continue to turn a blind eye, CBP, ICE, and our federal partners are stepping up — enforcing the law and defending our communities.”
Federal officials also repeated their calls for undocumented immigrants to self-deport using the CBP Home app, and to learn more about legal immigration options at cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced a plan Friday to provide financial assistance to people who have been affected by the sweeping immigration raids.
The aid, which will not come directly from taxpayers but from immigrants rights groups such as the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, will be distributed using cash cards containing about $200, and should be available in about a week.
“You have people who don’t want to leave their homes, who are not going to work, and they are in need of cash,” Bass said during a Friday news conference.
Criteria for receiving the aid was not immediately clear.
Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Saturday called on Bass and other Los Angeles officials to fund a similar crash assistance program for the city’s Black poor.
“Blacks have the highest unemployment, and lowest income of all groups in L.A.,” Hutchinson said. “Bass and city officials have rightly provided special assistance to immigrants (and) now is the time to provide special assistance programs and funds for L.A.’s Black impoverished as well. Don’t forget the Black poor too.”
Bass also announced that she signed an executive directive that, among other things, calls for records from the Trump administration on all ICE operations since they started in June.
The mayor said the city will file a Freedom of Information Act request with the federal government aiming to secure information about the whereabouts of detained individuals, reasons for detainment and the associated costs of the ICE activity.
“We are a proud city of immigrants, and with the Trump administration signaling that they will ratchet up their chaotic approach, I’m making sure we deploy every resource and tool available within the city to ensure that we are supporting immigrant communities,” Bass said.
Under the directive, all city departments will be required to ensure they are in compliance with Los Angeles’ “sanctuary city ordinance,” which prohibits the use of city resources and personnel in federal immigration enforcement. It also mandates that each department deliver preparedness plans within two weeks to ensure no immigration activity occurs on city property.