Judge Bars ICE From Stopping People in Southern California Based Solely on Looking Latino

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a preliminary injunction, dated Oct. 23 and made public Oct. 30, barring agents from detaining people in Los Angeles and six surrounding counties based solely on appearing Latino or being perceived as working-class. Agents must first have reasonable suspicion of an immigration violation; ports of entry are exempt. Frimpong cited a "mountain of evidence," including body-camera footage from a 2025 Hollywood Home Depot operation, internal messages using ethnic slurs, and accounts from Latino U.S. citizens whose citizenship claims agents disregarded.

The ruling follows a 2025 Supreme Court order suspending a similar earlier restriction on using ethnicity and employment as stop factors; Frimpong said this case rests on new evidence not before that court. The order is preliminary, not a final finding of an unlawful policy.

The administration has appealed; DHS denies its agents racially profile and says they operate within the law. The ACLU of Southern California, whose immigrants'-rights director called the order a recognition that agents were profiling people, welcomed the ruling.