Feldman: The Supreme Court's ICE raids ruling is shameful

"In a ruling likely to go down in history as a shameful expression of anti-immigrant prejudice, the Supreme Court has allowed ICE agents to re-start roving stops of people suspected of being undocumented immigrants because of what they look like, how they speak, and where they are gathered to work or seek employment. The 6-3 ruling in the court's emergency docket reversed a July order by federal district court judge in Los Angeles, which found ICE had failed to meet the legal requirement of reasonable suspicion for conducting the stops. The violation of fundamental rights based on ethnicity, language, and economic circumstances isn't just bad for the Latinos who are being targeted. It undermines the constitutional rights of all Americans and the core principle of equality before the law."

"The case involves ICE raids that began in June in Los Angeles. In the raids, Kavanaugh wrote, teams of armed and masked agents pulled up to car washes, tow yards, farms, and parks and began seizing individuals on sight, often before asking a single question. The point of the raids was to ask people if they were U.S. citizens or otherwise in the country lawfully. In theory, those who could demonstrate lawful presence were released, while others more than 2,800 were detained."

"The federal district court judge ascertained that the raids were based on four factors: (1) [the targets] apparent race or ethnicity; (2) whether they spoke Spanish or English with an accent; (3) the type of location at which they were found (such as a car wash or bus stop); and (4) the type of job they appeared to work. Those criteria did not suffice to establish the reasonable suspicion necessary for immigration-related stops, and she ordered the practice halted while she determined what long-term legal remedy would"

The Supreme Court's 6-3 emergency decision permits ICE to resume roving immigration stops that target individuals based on appearance, language, and workplace. A federal judge had temporarily halted the raids after finding ICE lacked reasonable suspicion, noting criteria such as apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or with an accent, presence at locations like car washes or bus stops, and job type did not justify stops. The raids in Los Angeles involved armed, masked agents seizing people on sight and resulted in more than 2,800 detentions, prompting concerns about racial profiling and erosion of equal protection rights.

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