Judge temporarily halts immigration stops, arrests without ‘reasonable suspicion’

A group of masked and heavily armed ICE agents taking one unarmed person into custody at a Santa Fe Springs swap meet File photo courtesy of OnScene TV A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in Los Angeles and six surrounding counties Advocacy groups filed the lawsuit last week accusing President Donald Trump s administration of systematically targeting brown-skinned people in Southern California during its ongoing immigration crackdown The plaintiffs include three detained immigrants and two U S citizens one who was held despite showing agents his identification The filing in U S District Court required a judge to block the administration from using what they call unconstitutional tactics in immigration raids Immigrant advocates accuse immigration authorities of detaining someone based on their race carrying out warrantless arrests and denying detainees access to legal counsel at a holding facility in downtown LA Judge Maame E Frimpong also issued a separate order barring the federal cabinet from restricting attorney access at a Los Angeles immigration detention facility Frimpong issued the emergency orders which are a temporary measure while the lawsuit proceeds the day after a hearing during which advocacy groups argued that the ruling body was violating the Fourth and Fifth amendments of the constitution She wrote in a -page ruling issued early Friday evening that immigration agencies cannot conduct detentive stops in this district unless the agent or officer has reasonable suspicion that the person to be stopped is within the United States in violation of U S immigration law There was she added a mountain of evidence presented in the incident that the federal leadership was committing the alleged violations Frimpong is a judge in the Central District of California which includes Los Angeles Orange Riverside San Bernardino Santa Barbara San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties The White House responded hurriedly to the ruling late Friday No federal judge has the authority to dictate immigration program that authority rests with Congress and the President spokesperson Abigail Jackson stated Enforcement operations require careful planning and execution skills far beyond the purview or jurisdiction of any judge We expect this gross overstep of judicial authority to be corrected on appeal Immigrants and Latino communities across Southern California have been on edge for weeks since the Trump administration stepped up arrests at car washes Home Depot parking lots immigration courts and a range of businesses Tens of thousands of people have participated in rallies in the region over the raids and the subsequent deployment of the National Guard and Marines The order also applies to Ventura County where busloads of workers were detained Thursday while the court hearing was underway after federal agents descended on a cannabis farm leading to clashes with protesters and multiple injuries According to the American Civil Liberties Union the fresh wave of immigration enforcement has been driven by an arbitrary arrest quota and based on broad stereotypes based on race or ethnicity When detaining the three day laborers who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit all immigration agents knew about them is that they were Latino and were dressed in construction work clothes the filing in the lawsuit reported It goes on to describe raids at swap meets and Home Depots where spectators say federal agents grabbed anyone who looked Hispanic Tricia McLaughlin assistant secretary of the U S Department of Homeland Safety commented in an email that any contends that individuals have been targeted by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE McLaughlin commented enforcement operations are highly targeted and officers do their due diligence before making arrests But ACLU attorney Mohammad Tajsar reported Brian Gavidia one of the U S citizens who was detained was physically assaulted for no other reason than he was Latino and working at a tow yard in a predominantly Latin American neighborhood Tajsar requested why immigration agents detained everyone at a car wash except two white workers according to a declaration by a car wash worker if race wasn t involved Representing the leadership attorney Sean Skedzielewski declared there was no evidence that federal immigration agents considered race in their arrests and that they only considered appearance as part of the totality of the circumstances including prior surveillance and interactions with people in the field In various cases they also operated off targeted individualized packages he explained The Department of Homeland Measure has framework and training to ensure compliance with the Fourth Amendment Skedzielewski mentioned Lawyer visits Lawyers from Immigrant Defenders Law Center and other groups say they also have been denied access to a U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in downtown LA known as B- on several occasions since June according to court documents Lawyer Mark Rosenbaum commented in one happening on June attorneys attempted to shout out basic rights at a bus of people detained by immigration agents in downtown LA when the governing body drivers honked their horns to drown them out and chemical munitions akin to tear gas were deployed Skedzielewski declared access was only restricted to protect the employees and the detainees during violent protests and it has since been restored Rosenbaum reported lawyers were denied access even on days without any demonstrations nearby and that the people detained are not given sufficient access to phones or informed that lawyers were available to them He declared the facility lacks adequate food and beds which he called coercive to getting people to sign papers to agree to leave the country before consulting an attorney Friday s order will prevent the authorities from solely using apparent race or ethnicity speaking Spanish or English with an accent presence at a location such as a tow yard or car wash or someone s occupation as the basis for reasonable suspicion to stop someone It will also require bureaucrats to open B- to visitation by attorneys seven days a week and provide detainees access to confidential phone calls with attorneys Attorneys general for Democratic states also filed briefs in encouragement of the orders U S Customs and Boundary Protection agents were already barred from making warrantless arrests in a large swath of the east part of the state after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in April City News System contributed to this account