9th Circuit Upholds Restraining Order Limiting ICE Sweeps Southern California

A federal appeals court panel of the 9th Circuit upheld a temporary restraining order that bars the Trump administration from conducting warrantless immigration arrests in Southern California based solely on race, language, occupation, or specific locations such as car washes and Home Depots. The court agreed with a lower court ruling that the immigration enforcement sweeps lacked reasonable suspicion, violating the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and immigrant rights groups highlighting racial profiling and excessive use of force by federal immigration officers. The judges emphasized that broad profiling factors do not constitute reasonable suspicion and criticized the government’s failure to meet the legal standard required to justify such stops. The temporary restraining order covers multiple counties in Southern California and requires that detainees be granted access to legal representation. The Trump administration's attempt to lift the order was denied, with the court noting that if the government truly followed constitutional limits, it should not be harmed by the injunction designed to prevent unconstitutional stops.