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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s request for an emergency stay of a federal injunction restricting federal immigration agents from targeting migrants in Southern California based on characteristics such as ethnicity or language.
The three-judge panel issued a unanimous ruling that maintains the restraints on federal agents during immigration raids in the Los Angeles area.
The limitations include prohibiting targeting people based on their ethnicity, accent, language or location, including being at a Home Depot or a car wash.
The ruling requires federal agents to have more specific probable cause to make an arrest instead of generalized suspicion about a person’s citizenship status.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass celebrated the court’s decision as “a victory for the rule of law and for the City of Los Angeles.”
“The Temporary Restraining Order that has been protecting our communities from immigration agents using racial profiling and other illegal tactics when conducting their cruel and aggressive enforcement raids and sweeps will remain in place for now,” Bass said in a statement.
“We must still fight for justice,” she continued. “Los Angeles will stand together against this Administration’s efforts to break up families who contribute every single day to the life, the culture and the economy of our great city. No matter what, I will continue to stand by you and fight for your rights, your dignity and your place in this city we all call home.”
This comes after recent raids in the Los Angeles area targeted illegal immigrants working at local businesses, sparking weeks of unrest over immigration arrests and the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
About 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines were deployed to Los Angeles to gain control over the protests despite opposition from state and local leaders. At this point, most of the National Guard troops and all the Marines have since been withdrawn.
The administration was sued last month over alleged “unlawful stop-and-arrest practices” and “illegal conditions of confinement.” A federal judge then issued two temporary restraining orders, including one to stop generalized raids based on the idea that many Spanish-speaking Hispanics are known to be in a certain location.
Lawyers for the administration filed an emergency appeal asking the court to temporarily pause the injunction as it would cause “irreparable harm” and put immigration officials in a “straitjacket.” The appeal was denied in court on Friday.
During arguments, one of the judges repeatedly asked the lawyer for the government about a reported 3,000 daily quota for immigration-related arrests — a quota policy the lawyer claims does not exist — in reference to comments made by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in May.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day, and President Trump is going to keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every single day,” Miller said at the time.
Fox News’ Lee Ross contributed to this report.
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