Earlier this summer, an LA District Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing ICE and federal agents from detaining individuals without reasonable suspicion, July. 11. Prior to this, ICE agents had conducted numerous raids detaining individuals based solely on their race, ethnic appearance, or place of work. Recently, the Supreme Court case Perdome v. Noem granted an emergency application for a stay in a 6-3 ruling, allowing the court to pause the previous district court’s TRO, Sept. 8.
This decision allows immigration agents to continue their practices, clearing the way for racial profiling and selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity in immigration detainments. Permitting ICE agents to do so violates the foundation of democracy in our country, by endangering citizens’ Constitutional rights and creating a stigmatization around Hispanic-American communities.
With the Trump administration pushing for 3,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants per day, ICE agents have already cut corners on reasonable suspicion and due process to fulfill the arrest quota. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), there has been a widespread denial of bond hearings for individuals detained by immigration officers. This is a direct violation of due process, a Constitutional right stated in the Fifth Amendment, and it clears the way for further Constitutional violations.
Additionally, rather than finding reasonable evidence that a person is an undocumented immigrant, ICE agents can target people who speak Spanish — or English with a Spanish accent — and people who appear Hispanic. These factors are not probable causes to determine whether or not a person is an undocumented immigrant. Using these factors to stop or detain individuals violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable seizures and searches. In certain high-profile cases, ICE has even used these factors to detain legal citizens. A letter from Congress members to the Department of Homeland Security’s internal oversight offices wrote, “ICE has erroneously arrested U.S. citizens, at times appearing to use violent physical force. ICE has also reportedly detained citizens in immigration detention facilities, sometimes for over a week. ICE has even deported U.S. citizens: in multiple cases, ICE has deported U.S. citizen children along with their undocumented parents, reportedly against the families’ wishes.”
The recent racial profiling in immigration detainments further perpetuates the stereotype that Hispanic or Latino people in the U.S. are “illegal aliens.”. This stereotype is a social consequence of ICE’s practices and enables discrimination against Hispanic or Latin Americans in healthcare, housing, employment, and education.
According to an article by Capital and Main — an award-winning publication from California that reports on social, environmental, and economic issues — Latinos and Hispanics across California have reported increased feelings of fear and anxiety in their daily lives as a result of racial targeting by ICE agents. Many no longer leave the house without legal documents to prove their citizenship, and others avoid leaving their homes altogether. Speaking Spanish is avoided in public places, such as bus stops, out of fear of detainment. Even events and celebrations for Mexican Independence Day were cancelled across the nation as a result of ICE’’s racial profiling practices. Not only are these practices unlawful and unconstitutional, but they have also taken a severe cultural, social, and psychological toll on the Hispanic and Latino community across the nation.
While the Perdomo v. Noem ruling isn’t final, it shows the Supreme Court’s stance that immigration agents can use factors such as race, appearance, and work when detaining individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants. With the Trump administration carrying out more intense immigration raids in more cities, such as Chicago, Boston, and Miami, without strict limitations, fear and anger among Hispanic communities will only increase.
In such a time of fear and uncertainty, it is increasingly important that Americans across the U.S., regardless of ethnicity, race, or status, recognize the importance of their constitutional rights and the threat that unlawful immigration practices pose to them. America was founded on the ideals of equality and freedom for all its residents, and as a nation, it is our responsibility to uphold these ideals.
