Federal Judge Halts Trump Admin Immigration Arrests Without Probable Cause in Southern California

A federal judge on Friday delivered a significant blow to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement practices in Southern California, ruling that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been conducting stops and arrests in Los Angeles raids without probable cause. US District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, issued an order compelling DHS to cease detaining individuals based solely on their race, spoken language, or occupation.

Judge Frimpong mandated that DHS must develop clear guidelines for officers to establish ‘reasonable suspicion’ that do not rely on a person’s apparent race or ethnicity, their language or accent, their presence at a specific location like a bus stop, or their type of work. This ruling, which is limited to the seven-county jurisdiction of the US Central District of California (including Los Angeles), stems from a lawsuit filed last week by the ACLU of Southern California on behalf of five individuals and various immigration advocacy groups. The suit alleged unconstitutional arrests by DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and denial of detainees’ access to legal counsel.

In her ruling, Frimpong stated that the court found sufficient evidence that the Trump administration was indeed conducting ‘roving patrols without reasonable suspicion’ and ‘denying access to lawyers.’ She also noted the administration’s failure to provide information on the basis for its arrests. The temporary restraining order extends to the FBI and the Justice Department, both named as defendants in the lawsuit due to their involvement in immigration enforcement. Furthermore, DHS has been ordered to maintain and regularly provide documentation of arrests to the plaintiffs’ counsel.

During a hearing preceding the ruling, Judge Frimpong expressed skepticism regarding the government’s arguments, which claimed DHS agents initiated stops based on intelligence or ‘trend analysis,’ not race or ethnicity. She pressed the government for evidence that arrests were based on actionable intelligence rather than targeting areas presumed to house undocumented immigrants. In a separate temporary restraining order, Frimpong also blocked DHS from denying detainees access to counsel, including visits and calls, at a holding facility known as ‘B-18,’ where advocacy groups had raised concerns about inhumane conditions and lack of legal access.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin condemned the ruling, stating it ‘is undermining the will of the American people.’ The ruling comes as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its aggressive crackdown on immigration, including recent calls for ICE to expand deportation efforts in Democratic cities and the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to protests against immigration raids. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass both lauded the ruling, with Newsom asserting that ‘California stands with the law and the Constitution.’ Mohammad Tajsar of the ACLU of Southern California emphasized that ‘everyone is guaranteed constitutional rights to protect them from unlawful stops,’ regardless of their background.

阅读中文版 (Read Chinese Version)

Disclaimer: This content is aggregated from public sources online. Please verify information independently. If you believe your rights have been infringed, contact us for removal.