Ruling Will Encourage Even More Discrimination by Federal Agents
(Washington)—The Supreme Court on Monday overturned an order that had blocked ICE from committing egregious racial profiling, as they did in raids in Los Angeles earlier this year. The lower courts had agreed that ICE must be prevented from making immigration stops merely based on someone’s appearance and where they work, but the Supreme Court stayed their orders, essentially sanctioning widespread racial profiling. Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurrence lays out a roadmap for how he believes immigration enforcement should blatantly target Latinos working in sectors that rely on immigrant labor.
In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that “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.” Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson also dissented.
The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is frustrated, but not surprised, that the court’s conservative majority has given the Trump administration another avenue to wage its hateful and racist anti-immigration agenda. The conservative majority chose instead to rubber stamp the wishes of the Trump administration rather than hold arguments on this important case to weigh the massive implications.
This ruling is a huge setback for all Americans. The Supreme Court's order means that ordinary aspects of our daily lives, where we work, the language we speak, or the communities we live in can be a basis for detention and questioning. It means that masked federal agents may have even more legal impunity to detain and interrogate people based merely on how they look or where they are. The Supreme Court, even without issuing a full ruling, has shown its belief that if you are Brown or Black, or speak English with an accent, or work in a field dominated by immigrant labor, then such law enforcement action is justified. This decision is another effort to end basic liberty and equality before the law in this country.
Today’s Supreme Court order is not the end of the case. The case is still pending at the Ninth Circuit and that court will still hear the full appeal. The Supreme Court could later review the case on the merits. The fight to protect constitutional rights remains very much alive. Racial profiling is wrong and contrary to a free society. It dehumanizes people. It violates an individual’s human rights and also violates constitutional and international human rights law.
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The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC works to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. Follow us at www.ilrc.org, and @the_ILRC on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok. Also follow us on Bluesky @the-ilrc.bsky.social, and on Facebook.