Supreme Court decides racial profiling legal for ICE Agents

By: The Griffin

On Sep. 8, the Supreme Court temporarily overturned a decision from the Los Angeles court that restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from making arrests without reasonable suspicion. Critics view this ruling as having a significant resemblance to racial profiling. This raises concerns about further unraveling of civil rights protections. While the rulings on immigration raids in the Los Angeles area do not necessarily apply to the entire United States, the Court’s decision on Federal law is binding nationally; therefore setting precedents for future cases in different states. 

Under this ruling, apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish, or English with an accent, being in a particular place such as a day laborer pickup site, or a person’s area of work is reason enough to detain suspected immigrants.

This ruling is a result of the frequent ICE raids that occurred over the summer following new immigration policies placed by the Trump administration in what they refer to as “the largest Mass Deportation Operation in History.” The Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo court case originated from a group of Latino residents of California as well as related workers’ organizations who sued the government for being subject to unwarranted stoppings by ICE agents on illegal grounds. Brutality by ICE has been reported by US citizens who have been harassed by ICE to present their immigration papers to authorities. 

Advocate organizations for immigrants have pushed back on this ruling by arguing the immense contributions that immigrants have made to American communities, especially Los Angeles. Labor from immigrants is a factor that fuels the country’s economy. Immigrant labor is the backbone of California’s economy, which is the world's fourth-largest economy. Eunisses Hernandez, a Los Angeles city council member who represents communities that have been heavily impacted by ICE raids tells The Guardian in response to this apparent neglect of immigrant contributions, “You don’t get to profit off of our labor and then criminalize our existence.” Additionally, Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor condemns her peers’ 6-3 decision by describing the ruling as a “grave misuse” of the court’s emergency powers. “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,” she adds. Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny recently shocked fans by revealing that “he deliberately chose not to bring his sold-out world tour to the U.S. because of concerns that ICE could target his concerts” (USA Today, 2025). This injustice of targeting one specific ethnicity continues to create a very shaky ground for the U.S. Constitution and what the United States stands for.