District court block overturned
The Supreme Court has handed the Trump administration a victory by allowing federal agents to continue immigration raids in Southern California. The ruling suspends a July 11 decision from Judge Maame Frimpong, who had concluded the tactics likely violated constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment.
Claims of profiling and abuse
The lawsuit alleged that federal enforcement teams—often masked and carrying heavy weapons—conducted patrols where individuals were singled out based on skin color, ethnicity, or speech. Plaintiffs said the confrontations resembled daytime kidnappings. One man, Jason Gavidia, stated he was assaulted when agents rejected his claim of citizenship and pressed him to identify the hospital of his birth. Judge Frimpong’s order barred reliance on race, language, workplace, or presence at sites such as car washes and tow lots, stressing those traits do not constitute “reasonable suspicion.”
Supreme Court divides along party lines
The Justice Department appealed after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused on August 1 to lift Frimpong’s restrictions. Government attorneys argued that immigration officers needed wide discretion in regions where officials estimate 10 percent of the population is undocumented. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority accepted the administration’s argument, while the court’s three liberal justices dissented. The decision continues a trend of the high court siding with Trump’s contested immigration policies.
