The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with President Donald Trump’s administration, granting federal agents the ability to continue aggressive immigration raids in Southern California—operations that critics argue are heavily influenced by race, ethnicity, and language.
The decision halts a lower court ruling by U.S. District Judge Maame Frimpong, who in July found the raids likely violated the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Her order had barred federal agents from stopping or detaining individuals without “reasonable suspicion” that they were in the country illegally.
In a brief, unsigned order without explanation, the high court allowed the raids to resume while the legal challenge continues. The court’s three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor warning that the policy threatens to treat “all Latinos, U.S. citizens or not, who work low-wage jobs” as potential suspects. “Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent,” she wrote.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, siding with the majority, acknowledged that race or ethnicity alone cannot justify a stop but said those factors may be considered in combination with others. “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, they promptly let the individual go,” he noted.
The Justice Department defended the raids as targeting areas with high concentrations of undocumented residents, saying agents use a “reasonably broad profile” to guide enforcement.
The ruling marks another legal victory for Trump, who has promised a sweeping immigration crackdown since returning to office last year. His administration has set a target of 3,000 immigration arrests per day. The raids—often conducted by heavily armed, masked agents—have drawn widespread criticism, sparked protests, and led to a growing number of lawsuits.
