Federal Court: ICE Can’t Target People Based on Appearance
A federal court in Southern California has ruled that ICE agents cannot rely solely on race or language to detain individuals, citing violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. The court’s temporary restraining order follows a lawsuit and mandates that officers must have a reasonable suspicion of a violation of immigration law before stopping someone. This decision, while specific to the Central District of California, curtails ICE’s practices of targeting individuals based on ethnicity or location and denying them access to legal counsel. The ruling underscores that racism is not a valid basis for reasonable suspicion, and prevents ICE from continuing its previous practices.
John Q. Hosedrinker