A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court’s decision to temporarily block federal immigration agents from making arrests in Los Angeles without probable cause.
The ruling, issued by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, denied the Trump administration’s request to lift the restraining order. The judges stated that the plaintiffs are likely to prove that arrests were being conducted based on individuals’ appearance, language, or location, rather than lawful justification.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which accused federal agents of employing racially discriminatory practices to meet immigration enforcement quotas. The suit was joined by the City of Los Angeles and several other Southern California municipalities. Plaintiffs alleged that agents engaged in racial profiling and denied detainees access to legal representation.
In response to mounting protests over immigration raids, President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in June—a rare use of military personnel to support civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil.
Last month, a California judge barred the federal government from using race or ethnicity to identify deportation targets and from denying detainees the right to consult lawyers.
The Ninth Circuit’s unsigned decision affirmed the lower court’s restrictions, preventing federal agents from arresting individuals solely for speaking Spanish or accented English, appearing to belong to a certain ethnicity, or being present in locations such as bus stops, car washes, day labor pickup sites, tow yards, and agricultural zones.
The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have not issued a public response to the ruling.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass welcomed the decision, describing it as a win for local communities. “The Temporary Restraining Order that has been protecting our communities from immigration agents using racial profiling and other illegal tactics when conducting their cruel and aggressive enforcement raids and sweeps will remain in place for now,” she said.
Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, also commended the ruling. “This decision is further confirmation that the administration’s paramilitary invasion of Los Angeles violated the Constitution and caused irreparable injury across the region,” he said.
