Bass & Immigrant Rights Groups Denounce Supreme Court’s Ruling Allowing Raids Without Reasonable Suspicion

This article was originally published on Sean Beckner-Carmitchel's The LA Ten Four and has been reprinted here with permission from the author.

LOS ANGELES — At a Sept. 8 press conference in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling today which lifts restrictions on immigration enforcement in the city. Flanked by immigrant rights groups like Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the American Civil Liberties Union Southern California (ACLU SoCal), Bass denounced the raids as “racist,” and “intimidation tactics.”

The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision today to lift a temporary restraining order, which barred federal immigration stops without reasonable suspicion in the Los Angeles area. Because of the decision, federal agents will once again be allowed to initiate stops on suspects based on their race, language or job. The plaintiffs will still be allowed to continue their legal challenge via attempts to gain a preliminary injunction.

The decision by the Supreme Court lifted a July 11 order by US District Court Judge Maame E Frimpong in Los Angeles. In her ruling, Frimpong said there is a “mountain of evidence” showing the raids violated the fourth amendment of the US Constitution. The order halted the raids, with Frimpon saying the Trump administration could not use “apparent race or ethnicity” or “speaking Spanish” alone to detain or question suspects. The order was later upheld in the 9th district court of appeals.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s conservative majority at the presser, Bass said “the very body that used to advance civil rights and defend civil liberties has now given the green light for law enforcement to profile and detain Angelenos.” Bass also said the raids were “un-American” and “dangerous.”

Not all attendees were pleased with Bass’ leadership during the presser. Pablo Alvarado, Co-Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, looked towards Bass and said “no one is going to stop us. And the LAPD did stop us from protesting the last time,” referring to officers blocking a peaceful march from moving past Metro Detention Center, where immigrant detainees are being held. Alvarado continued, saying “we want our local government to stand down.” Bass left while others were still speaking; one woman followed her screaming displeasure regarding LAPD’s response to protests the last several months.

Alvaro Huerta, the Director of Litigation & Advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), said “the US Supreme Court decided today that the violence that we’ve seen from ICE, DHS has committed against immigrant communities, and frankly all communities in Los Angeles is okay.” Huerta promised that the case will continue, and said that concerned citizens seeing raids should send information to groups like ImmDef. Huerta said that “It’s not the end of the story, though. We are back in court later this month.”

United Farm Workers (UFW) is a plaintiff in the Los Angeles area; they’d previously filed and won a preliminary injunction in the Eastern District of California which includes Kern County and surrounding counties. Elizabeth Strater, Vice President of UFW, said she’d heard from farm workers who are “washing their cars every day after work because they don’t want their car to look like a farm worker’s.” Strater continued, saying that the administration would continue to ramp up its efforts, saying “at first this administration is telling us we’re only going after the criminals. And then they tell us we’re only going after the undocumented people. And then it’s only immigrants that we’re rounding up here. Who’s next?”

The presser was located in the parking lot of a Home Depot in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, which has seen several raids over the past several months. One of the first targets for increased immigration raids, on June 6 federal agents stormed into the parking lot and detained several. Within days, both large raids and protests rocked the city for weeks. Though both protests and raids continued after the order, both had softened since.

In the same morning the Supreme Court’s decision was released, several white vans exited the gated entrance to a DHS facility. As The Ten Four watched, an unmarked vehicle entering the facility announced “good job, nerds,” in their direction. Greg Bovino, the Chief Patrol Agent at US Customs and Border Protection, celebrated the win on social media and said that his agents were already in the process of a raid.

A day laborer in Westlake, Willie, watched the press conference from across the street with several others. His arms have scars, which he said came from work accidents over his years as a laborer. Describing agents descending upon the neighborhood, he said “you know, you see the people. Right now, it’s scary.”

He only could find $20 of work today, Willie said. Day labor work dried up after the raids, according to him. “I have to [take the work] because I have to eat.”

After the press conference, a few people stayed to listen to live music from Los Jornaleros del Norte, a band dedicated to “inform, educate, organize, and mobilize day workers.” Though the majority of the crowd had left, Willie and several others walked over and began to dance.

Sean Beckner-Carmitchel is a multimedia journalist who focuses on policing and protests within the Los Angeles area. His credits include CNN, BBC, Good Morning, America!, and CalMatters. Recently he launched The Ten Four, a newsletter focusing on issues involving First Responders in Los Angeles and beyond.