Supreme Court Lifts Temporary Restraining Order, Freeing ICE to Resume Large Scale Stops in Los Angeles

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday lifted a temporary restraining order that had barred federal immigration agents from conducting “roving patrols” and detaining individuals without reasonable suspicion of unlawful presence. The 6–3 decision now permits agents to stop and detain people in Pasadena and other Southern California cities based solely on ethnicity or occupation.

The ruling overturns a July order issued by U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong in Los Angeles, which had prohibited immigration stops based on race, language, location, or employment status. That order had been upheld by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Supreme Court’s decision clears the way for expanded enforcement tactics across Los Angeles County, including in Pasadena neighborhoods with large immigrant communities.

In the majority opinion, the court held that immigration agents may detain anyone they suspect is living in the United States illegally, even if that suspicion is rooted solely in a person’s appearance or job type. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, concurring, cited longstanding federal precedent allowing brief detentions based on “reasonable suspicion” of unlawful presence.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing in dissent, condemned the ruling as a “grave misuse” of the court’s emergency docket and warned that it could normalize racial profiling. “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,” she wrote.

The decision follows a series of immigration sweeps in Los Angeles that began in June, which reportedly included the detention of legal immigrants and U.S. citizens. Civil rights attorneys challenged the arrests of three immigrants and two citizens, arguing they were stopped without lawful justification.

Pasadena officials have not yet issued a formal response,