Trump admin asks Supreme Court to lift block on immigration raids in Southern California
Judges keep restrictions on ICE raids in LA
Pro-immigration advocates celebrated the temporary court victory over the Trump administration in the ongoing battle to get ICE agents out of Southern California.
LOS ANGELES - The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court Thursday to lift a federal judge's order blocking sweeping immigration enforcement operations in Southern California.
The petition comes as multiple immigration operations in Southern California this week have raised questions about whether immigration officials are adhering to the restraining order.
PREVIOUS: Federal appeals court upholds ban on immigration raids in LA
The backstory:
In July, eight cities, including Los Angeles, sued the Trump administration, calling recent immigration raids across Southern California "unconstitutional." Officials accused immigration agents of regularly failing to identify themselves and racially profiling their targets, arresting them without warrants or probable cause.
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Judge blocks ICE raids in LA, Ventura counties without probable cause
The temporary restraining order blocks sweeping immigration raids in seven California counties, including Los Angeles and Ventura counties, after
Just a few weeks ago, Judge Maame E. Frimpong issued two separate restraining orders, limiting raids in seven counties across Southern California, including LA County. The first restraining order keeps immigration officers from stopping people without reasonable suspicion, or stopping people over their apparent race, the language they speak, where they work and more. The second order required DHS to provide detainees with legal representation.
Last week, a three-judge panel upheld Frimpong's ruling.
What they're saying:
The Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly denied allegations of racial profiling in their immigration operations. In an email to the Associated Press last month, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that "enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence" before making arrests.
In the appeal to the Supreme Court on Thursday, Trump’s Solicitor General D. John Sauer said Judge Frimpong’s order puts a "straitjacket" on agents in the area.
"No one thinks that speaking Spanish or working in construction always creates reasonable suspicion," Sauer wrote. "... But in many situations, such factors—alone or in combination—can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States."
Immigration raid at Home Depot in MacArthur Park
Fox News' Matt Finn reports 16 people were taken into custody.
Dig deeper:
The restraining orders have not completely blocked immigration enforcement in Southern California. Federal immigration agents have carried out several raids this week, both in Home Depot parking lots.
PREVIOUS: Video shows ICE raid at LA Home Depot; 16 arrested
On Wednesday, video showed agents popping out of the back of a box truck in a Westlake parking lot, arresting 16 allegedly undocumented immigrants. Thursday morning, six SUVs stormed into the parking lot of a San Bernardino Home Depot, chasing after day laborers. It's not clear how many people were arrested.
The other side:
After the Westlake operation on Wednesday, LA Mayor Karen Bass spoke out, saying that what officials called "Operation Trojan Horse" seemed similar to the kinds of operations that Judge Frimpong's order blocked.
"From the video and from the stills, it looked like the exact same thing that we saw before the TRO," Bass said.
The Source: Information in this story is from the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security, and previous FOX 11 reports.