A split U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to lift restrictions on indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in Los Angeles also divided Southern California lawmakers and activists Monday, leaving some to decry the order as greenlighting racial profiling and others cheering what they say will be increased safety in the area.
“I want the entire nation to hear me when I say this isn’t just an attack on the people of Los Angeles, this is an attack on every person in every city in this country,” L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said. “Today’s ruling is not only dangerous — it’s un-American and threatens the fabric of personal freedom in the United States of America.”
But the Republican Party of Los Angeles, responding to news of the Supreme Court’s decision on social media, said: “Federal law will be enforced in Los Angeles. We will have safety again.”
U.S. District Judge Maame E. Frimpong in Los Angeles previously found a “mountain of evidence” that enforcement tactics were violating the Constitution. The plaintiffs included U.S. citizens swept up in immigration stops. But the nation’s highest court, in a split decision on Monday, Sept. 8, lifted the restraining order that had prevented agents from stopping people only based on their job, language, location or race.
After the Supreme Court’s order, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem vowed her department would “continue our operations in LA to remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens that pose a danger to public safety.”
The decision, she said, “is a win for the safety and security of the American people and the rule of law.”
But Bass said the decision “will lead to more working families being torn apart and fear of the very institutions meant to protect — not persecute — our people.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, called the Supreme Court “the Grand Marshal for a parade of racial terror in Los Angeles.”
“This isn’t about enforcing immigration laws — it’s about targeting Latinos and anyone who doesn’t look or sound like Stephen Miller’s idea of an American, including U.S. citizens and children, to deliberately harm California’s families and small businesses,” Newsom said, referring to Miller, who is one of President Donald Trump’s longest-serving aides and is an architecht of the administration’s hard-line stance on immigration.
“Trump’s private police force now has a green light to come after your family — and every person is now a target — but we will continue fighting these abhorrent attacks on Californians,” the governor said.
But Trump has made immigration and mass deportations a tenet of his second term in the White House. He has argued that the immigration enforcement actions are a massive effort to curtail crime and ensure public safety across the country.
“This stay reaffirms what we’ve always known: lower court activist judges are trying to impede the president from lawfully carrying out the American people’s agenda,” Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, said in an email. “We look forward to full vindication on this front in short order, but in the meantime, the Trump administration will continue fulfilling its mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens.”
Trump, speaking at a religious liberty event on Monday, also defended his administration’s immigration efforts in the Los Angeles area, including sending National Guard and Marines to the city when widespread demonstrations protesting raids and arrests broke out.
“We saved Los Angeles,” the president said. “Los Angeles was a mess. If we didn’t send our troops in, Gavin (Newsom) would have had a real problem.”
Southern California Democratic lawmakers, however, decried what they see as sanctioned racial profiling.
L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who has taken up the mantle on the board in helping families impacted by ICE and other immigration enforcement, called roving immigration patrols “an unacceptable attack on the rights and safety of our residents.”
“This decision will only intensify the fear, trauma and disruption faced by Angeleno families and neighbors who contribute so much to the strength, workforce and cultural diversity of Los Angeles County,” said Solis. “Racial profiling and stops without reasonable suspicion have no place in our society. ICE raids have torn apart families and inflicted real harm on innocent people, including U.S. citizens, breaking down public trust in government and undermining the values we hold dear.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla struck a hopeful note in his response to the order: “This is not the final say,” he said. “There is still time for the courts to stop this blatantly racist policy from threatening the basic freedoms of Americans and immigrants alike.”
Still, Padilla said, the Supreme Court’s decision “tramples on our Constitution and enables racial profiling to continue without explanation.”
Here’s a look at how other lawmakers and activists have responded:
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena: “Today, the Supreme Court restored ICE’s ability to stop and detain people based on nothing more than the color of their skin, the language they speak, and the fact that they make a living by doing manual labor. This is racial profiling, and it’s a direct attack on the constitutional rights of every American.”
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles: “Once again, speaking Spanish or simply looking Latino is now enough for ICE to pull you off the street. In Trump’s America, Latinos are guilty until proven innocent, whether you speak broken English, no English, or simply work the wrong job. We won’t be silenced. We will speak louder, organize stronger, and fight harder than ever.”
Will O’Neill, chair of the Republican Party of Orange County: “The Supreme Court’s ruling is a reminder that Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass would do well to get off their sanctuary high horse and work with the federal government rather than hide behind social media memes.”
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath: “While the Supreme Court’s disappointing ruling will inevitably give cover to racial profiling, let me be clear: Here in LA County, we regard our immigrant communities as our families and friends, our workers and our neighbors. Immigrants belong here, and we will fight with everything we have to protect their safety, their dignity and their future.”
Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano: “The Supreme Court just let Trump’s ICE ‘roving patrols’ resume in LA. Justice (Sonia) Sotomayor is right: Countless people — citizens included — are being seized and humiliated simply for how they look or speak. That’s unconstitutional, and it’s wrong.”
Rep. Dave Min, D-Irvine: “In a shameful and un-American decision, the Supreme Court just wrongly ruled ICE can detain people based on race or ethnicity. This goes against the clear language of our Constitution and everything we stand for.”
Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Whittier: “The conservative Supreme Court just gave Trump the green light for more ‘roving raids’ targeting Latino communities in LA. Speaking Spanish or working construction shouldn’t be a pretext to violate your constitutional rights.”
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California: “This administration rounded up and arrested California residents, including U.S. citizens and legal residents, based on the color of their skin or the language they speak. This is blatantly illegal, yet the Supreme Court is allowing it to happen while the case proceeds. When the history of this country’s rapid descent into dictatorship is written, Republicans in Congress and the Roberts Court will have been its primary enabler.”
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside: “The ‘party of free speech’ just made speaking Spanish a valid reason for ICE to detain you.”
Staff writer Steve Scauzillo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.