Advocates Slam SCOTUS Ruling on 'Roving' Immigration Patrols: 'Effectively Legalized Racial Profiling'

Immigrant rights advocates and California officials are criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court after a 6–3 ruling on Monday lifted restrictions on "roving" immigration patrols in Los Angeles, allowing federal agents to conduct stops based on factors such as race, language, and employment.

The decision reverses a lower court order that had barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining people without reasonable suspicion. The prior order cited concerns that agents were targeting individuals at bus stops, construction sites, and other public spaces based on appearance or perceived immigration status.

Critics consulted by The Guardian warned the ruling would erode civil rights protections and disproportionately affect Latino communities. "Immigration agents are now being given the power to profile, stop, detain, and arrest people because of the color of their skin, the language they speak, or the work that they do," said Armando Gudino, executive director of the Los Angeles Worker Center Network and a plaintiff in the case. "In doing so, they have effectively legalized racial profiling."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the ruling, saying it "has now given the green light for law enforcement to profile and detain Angelenos based on their race." She added that the ruling "isn't just an attack on the people of Los Angeles" but "an attack on every person in every city in this country."

California Governor Gavin Newsom also denounced the decision through an official statement, stating that the court's conservative majority "just became the Grand Marshal for a parade of racial terror in Los Angeles" and warned it would embolden aggressive immigration enforcement statewide:

"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. 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"

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, issued a strong dissent after the ruling was passed, warning that the ruling threatens constitutional protections:

"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. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent"

While the ruling allows ICE to resume operations using race and language as factors, a federal judge is set to hold a hearing later this month to consider whether additional protections should be reinstated while the case proceeds through the courts.