Appeals court keeps order blocking indiscriminate immigration sweeps in SoCal

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday night upheld maintaining a temporary restraining order against indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven Southern California counties, including Los Angeles.

Mayor Karen Bass called the decision a "victory for Los Angeles" in a post on X.

"We stood together. That message went to the courts," Bass told reporters outside the Getty House in Hancock Park. "I think the courts saw that it was absolutely unacceptable and unconstitutional to stop people based on their appearance, based on the language that they spoke, where they worked or what part of town they were in."

"I think everybody has seen in the last few weeks, since the temporary restraining order was in place, there has been peace in the city," Bass added.

Last month, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting immigration agents from stopping individuals without reasonable suspicion.

The order also barred agents from relying solely on factors such as race and ethnicity, speaking with an accent or being at locations such as bus stops, car washes or agricultural sites as a basis for detaining people.

A 90-minute hearing was held Monday in San Francisco as the Trump administration sought to overturn U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong's ruling that roving immigration patrols were illegally conducted without reasonable suspicion.

The appeal stems from a lawsuit filed July 2 by Southland residents, workers and advocacy groups alleging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is operating a program of "abducting and disappearing" community members using unlawful arrest tactics, then confining detainees in illegal conditions while denying access to attorneys.

Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, hailed the ruling.

"This decision is further confirmation that the administration's paramilitary invasion of Los Angeles violated the Constitution and caused irreparable injury across the region," Tajsar said in a statement.

Bass said she expects the Trump administration to appeal the decision all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Immigrants and Latino communities in Southern California have been on edge since early June when the Trump administration stepped up arrests at car washes, Home Depot parking lots, immigration courts and a range of businesses.

The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.