\u201cDHS law enforcement will continue to FLOOD THE ZONE in Los Angeles,\u201d the Department of Homeland Security declared on X shortly after the ruling.<\/p>\n
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LA Mayor Karen Bass speaks to the media after the Supreme Court ruling affirming the ability of federal agents to stop people based on race, job description and other factors. <\/p>\n
(David Butow \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
A raft of immigrant rights groups, Democratic politicians and lawyers denounced the ruling. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it \u201cdangerous\u201d and an \u201cattack on every person in every city in this country.\u201d Gov. Gavin Newsom said the \u201chand-picked Supreme Court majority just became the Grand Marshal for a parade of racial terror in Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some fear agents could become even more aggressive during the raids \u2014 which have led to at least two documented deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n The order comes just as the Trump administration vows to ramp up raids in sanctuary cities across the country, including Chicago this week.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been given carte blanche to go after anyone,\u201d said Maegan Ortiz, the executive director of a nonprofit group that works with day laborers. \u201cMy real concern is that it\u2019s going to get ugly.\u201d<\/p>\n In Los Angeles, nowhere was the sting felt more keenly than at the car washes and Home Depots targeted by Border Patrol agents throughout the late spring and summer \u2014 where they have continued to arrest people even after a federal judge ordered a temporary halt to sweeps that use race as a factor to stop individuals. The ruling Monday gave authorities the go-ahead to continue operating with those tactics, while the issues are litigated in the lower courts.<\/p>\n Near the site of Monday\u2019s news conference, a day laborer waits for work at a Home Depot.<\/p>\n (David Butow \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, this is persecuting me and my family,\u201d said Pepe Morales, 55, a father of four who has lived in the U.S. for 25 years and periodically comes to the Home Depot in Westlake to get work supplies and find jobs. The site has been raided at least four times; the last time agents used non-lethal projectiles and tear gas, advocates said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy kids realize everything going on,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m worried how that\u2019ll affect them psychologically. They\u2019re not respecting kids or anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people are worried. The whole community,\u201d Morales said. \u201cVamos a ver hambres, muertes. [We are going to see hunger, deaths.]\u201d<\/p>\n At the height of the raids, community groups organized to bring food to immigrants who had hunkered down in their homes. Business slumped in many Latino communities, and many say it hasn\u2019t returned. Families were split, children dragged into detention alone, even citizens were detained.<\/p>\n The administration touted going after \u201cthe worst of the worst,\u201d but an analysis from The Times showed that the majority of those arrested had no criminal conviction<\/a>. <\/p>\n Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the ruling was \u201ca win for the safety of Californians and the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c<\/b>DHS law enforcement will not be slowed down and will continue to arrest and remove the murderers, rapists, gang members and other criminal illegal aliens that Karen Bass continues to give safe harbor,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino and federal agents gather outside a news conference in August held by Gov. Gavin Newsom at the Japanese American National Museum. <\/p>\n (Carlin Stiehl \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Gregory Bovino, a top Border Patrol agent who has been leading the effort, posted on X that his agents \u201care going hard in Los Angeles today,\u201d and he mocked the ruling on sweeps in Los Angeles as a \u201cpoorly written\u201d temporary restraining order, the \u201cworst I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Bovino wrote in another post that \u201cthese are lawful stops based on a hundred years of case law and Border Patrol expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n The ruling Monday is chilling for those who rely on immigrant workers to fuel their industry. Already farmers, building contractors, restaurant owners and others fret over a future where their workforce is afraid to clock in.<\/p>\n Elizabeth Strater, a national vice president of United Farm Workers, said the logistics of keeping employees safe from raids are going to become more important. Her group is among several plaintiffs that brought a lawsuit against Border Patrol for raids near farms in Kern county in January and also a plaintiff in the lawsuit in L.A that secured the temporary restraining order.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery employer needs to take responsibility for protecting their worker\u2019s rights,\u201d she said. \u201cPut a gate there if you need to, have a door that locks, have a protocol in place. If they don\u2019t have a warrant they can\u2019t come on site and terrorize.\u201d<\/p>\n A man is detained by immigration agents in August at a Montebello car wash.<\/p>\n (Gregory Bull \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n As of Monday, around 81 car washes had been raided and nearly 250 workers taken from those businesses, according to Flor Melendrez, the executive director of the Clean Carwash Worker Center.<\/p>\n \u201cThe raids are getting more violent, workers are getting hurt, workers are dying,\u201d Melendrez said at a Monday afternoon news conference outside a Home Depot in Westlake. \u201cLet this be your call to action, to stand with our community, to stand with workers.\u201d<\/p>\n In Los Angeles, whole commercial areas have been hollowed out during the raids. The Flower Mart saw business in freefall. Workers were deported, including many parents. In California, one of every five children live in a mixed status family. In Los Angeles County, where one out of every 10 people is an undocumented immigrant and nearly half are Latino, the operations have felt to many like a deeply personal affront.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a setback for all Latinos and for all immigrants,\u201d said Alfonso Barragan, 62, as he arrived at the Home Depot in Hollywood<\/a> on Monday morning to buy material for work.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Supreme Court is turning a blind eye to the injustice that\u2019s happening to immigrants, who are essential workers in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n Barragan, an American citizen who installs televisions and sets up sound systems, said the decision takes away their due process rights by allowing federal agents to snatch people up simply because of the color of their skin or how they talk.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court decision can be traced back to mid-July when the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and Public Counsel sued the Department of Homeland Security over the raids on behalf of several immigrant rights groups, three immigrants picked up at a bus stop and two U.S. citizens. The attorneys argued that the racially charged stops violated the 4th Amendment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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