The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme court to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to resume aggressive patrols in Southern California that lower courts ruled likely violated the Fourth Amendment.
The patrols, described by critics as “roving” immigration sweeps, involved masked and heavily armed ICE agents stopping and questioning people — often Latinos, including U.S. citizens — about their immigration status. Federal judges found many of the stops were based on ethnicity, language, or location, without the “reasonable suspicion” required by law.
A U.S. District Court order last month halted the practice in seven central California counties, a ruling largely upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, appointed by President Biden, found substantial evidence that ICE was conducting stops without reasonable suspicion and blocking access to legal counsel.
The Justice Department argues immigration agents should be able to consider factors like language or type of work as part of their enforcement strategy, and that lower courts overstepped by imposing sweeping restrictions. The administration also contends the rulings defy a recent Supreme Court decision limiting broad injunctions against presidential policies.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide on the emergency appeal within weeks. The case is one of nearly two dozen urgent immigration-related appeals President Donald Trump’s team has brought since his second term began in January.
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