LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In a ruling Monday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for ICE and Border Patrol agents to restart aggressive immigration sweeps in the Los Angeles area.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Over the summer, a lower federal court order temporarily put a stop to those sweeps. The judge said there was lots of evidence agents were racially profiling as they roamed the streets, arresting people for possible deportation.
FADEL: For more on the Supreme Court's decision and the reaction to that decision, we're joined by NPR's Adrian Florido, who is in Los Angeles. Good morning.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So walk us through this decision.
FLORIDO: Well, it was a brief, unsigned order granting a request from the Trump administration to lift that lower court judge's restrictions on immigration enforcement raids in the LA area in Southern California. So the government could now immediately resume these aggressive sweeps that it started here in June, and that set off protests and clashes in parts of the city and that led President Trump to send in the National Guard.
Starting in June, ICE and Border Patrol agents rounded up day laborers in Home Depot parking lots, food cart vendors on street corners, people working on farms or at car washes. And the ACLU sued, saying that agents were targeting people based solely on their skin color or on their accent or on the type of work they were doing. They called it blatant racial profiling. Even U.S. citizens were being arrested. An LA federal judge told the government that it could not rely only on race and accent and occupation, and the raids pretty much ended.
FADEL: So what reasons did the justices give for lifting that federal judge's restrictions?
FLORIDO: Well, their order itself didn't give any legal reasoning. But in a concurrence, Justice Brett Kavanaugh cited an estimate that 10% of LA's population is undocumented and said race can be relevant when agents are determining whether they suspect someone is in the country illegally. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent. And she wrote, quote, "we should not have to live in a country where the government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish and appears to work a low-wage job."
This is a big win for the Trump administration, though, Leila, though it is temporary because the underlying lawsuit is still moving through the courts.
FADEL: OK. So what are rights groups, city officials saying in reaction to this?
FLORIDO: Well, they said the court is allowing racial discrimination. But Mohammad Tajsar, the ACLU's lead attorney in this case, told reporters that the group will continue its court fight to stop these raids.
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MOHAMMAD TAJSAR: We will not stand up for armed, masked goons who come into our neighborhoods, into our streets and terrorize us in the ways that they have been doing.
FLORIDO: And he said lawyers will keep gathering evidence that immigration agents are employing unconstitutional tactics and arresting people without probable cause or reasonable suspicion that they're in the country illegally. LA Mayor Karen Bass called the ruling an attack on the people of Los Angeles, but also on every person in every city in this country.
FADEL: So this ruling means these aggressive raids will, in fact, resume in LA and other cities?
FLORIDO: The Trump administration says they will resume in LA. President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, and his attorney general, Pam Bondi, both celebrated the ruling. On social media, Bondi wrote, quote, "now ICE can continue carrying out roving patrols in California without judicial micromanagement," unquote. And the Department of Homeland Security said on social media that it's going to, quote, "flood the zone."
And this could also embolden the Trump administration as it expands deportation efforts in other cities. Yesterday in Chicago, it announced what it's calling Operation Midway Blitz, and it's possible this ruling will affect that operation. But as I said, Leila, this emergency ruling is not the final word on the underlying lawsuit challenging racial profiling in ICE arrests. There's a court hearing in LA later this month, and the case could eventually find its way back up to the high court for a final ruling.
FADEL: So more legal battles ahead.
FLORIDO: Yeah.
That's NPR's Adrian Florido in Los Angeles. Thank you for your reporting, Adrian.
FLORIDO: Thanks, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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