❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Supreme Court ruled on Monday to allow the Trump administration to continue immigration raids in Los Angeles, California.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Trump administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the Supreme Court.
📍WHEN & WHERE: September 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C., relevant to the Los Angeles area.
💬KEY QUOTE: “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.” – Justice Brett Kavanaugh
🎯IMPACT: The decision allows ICE to continue its operations while an appeals court reviews the case.
The United States Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to resume large-scale immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles, California. In July, U.S. District Court Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong—appointed to the bench by former President Joe Biden—issued an order preventing ICE from conducting raids at L.A.-area Home Depots, car washes, warehouses, and other commercial facilities without demonstrating probable cause to do so.
Monday’s ruling stays the District Court order, which had been previously upheld by a federal appellate court, effectively allowing ICE to resume raids based on broad demographic criteria such as the prevalence of Spanish-speaking workers.
“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,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in his concurring opinion to the six-to-three court majority. “The interests of individuals who are illegally in the country in avoiding being stopped by law enforcement for questioning is ultimately an interest in evading the law. That is not an especially weighty legal interest.”
The majority opinion stressed that the Immigration and Nationality Act specifically allows U.S. immigration officials broad authority to determine whether a foreign national is legally allowed in the country. This broad authority, according to the high court, includes the use of factors such as race, ethnicity, specific locations like bus stops, the type of work performed, and speaking Spanish.
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