A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling that barred federal agents from carrying out immigration stops and arrests targeting illegal immigrants without probable cause in Los Angeles.
Government lawyers have argued that the district judge’s restraining order caused restraints on lawful immigration enforcement. The restraining order—prompted by a lawsuit filed by advocacy groups for undocumented immigrants—bars DHS from detaining individuals based on factors such as race, language or accent, occupation, or their presence in certain locations like bus stops.
In a 61-page decision, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld Judge Frimpong’s ruling, concluding that the government is unlikely to prevail on most of its legal arguments.
However, the panel concurred with DHS that the provision barring federal agents from conducting detentive stops based on certain factors “except as permitted by law” was overly vague.
The panel stated that the phrase “permitted by law” in the restraining order is unclear even to lawyers and judges, let alone “lay persons who are the target of the injunction.”
“We therefore conclude that defendants are likely to succeed on the merits as to that specific clause. Defendants, however, are not likely to succeed on their remaining arguments,” the judges wrote.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass welcomed the appeals court’s ruling, calling it a victory for the city. “The temporary restraining order to stop unconstitutional and reckless raids has been upheld. This is a victory for Los Angeles—I will ALWAYS fight for our city,” Bass stated on X.
