Judge Bars Federal Agents From Stopping People in Los Angeles Based on Race, Language or Job

On July 11, 2025, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order barring federal immigration agents across seven Southern California counties from detaining anyone without reasonable suspicion that the person is in the United States unlawfully, and specifically forbidding agents from resting that suspicion on four factors alone or in combination: apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, presence at a location such as a bus stop or day-laborer site, and the type of work a person does. In a companion order she granted lawyers access to the downtown Los Angeles detention facility known as B-18 and required that detainees be given telephone access to counsel.

The orders addressed whether the roving patrols conducted during the June-July Los Angeles enforcement surge amounted to stops without individualized suspicion, the standard the Fourth Amendment requires. The four enumerated factors describe how the sweeps were alleged to have been conducted in practice.

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli denied any violation, saying agents "have never detained individuals without proper legal justification." The administration sought a stay from the Ninth Circuit; the Supreme Court in September 2025 allowed the stops to resume while the litigation continued.