By: americanimmigrationcoucil.org | Editorial credit: Joey Sussman / Shutterstock.com

This week the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that clears the way for racial profiling during immigration raids and sweeps.

Now we could see the Trump administration rapidly expand the racially discriminatory ICE practices we have already seen terrorize families, workplaces, and communities around the country for months—and thanks to the Supreme Court, these raids are more likely to sweep in US citizens and people with lawful status.

What did the Supreme Court’s ruling say?

In a 6-3 vote in the case known as Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, the Supreme Court granted an emergency request from the Trump administration and temporarily halted a LA judge’s order that barred “roving patrols” from snatching people off California streets and questioning them based on how they look, what language they speak, what work they do, or even where they happen to be. Both a Los Angeles federal court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that these actions amounted to illegal racial profiling.

On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a brief, unsigned order that overturns those decisions. This gives immigration agents a “green light” to once again stop anyone they guess to be here illegally—even if a central reason for the stop was race. This endorses ICE and Border Patrol targeting any Latinos they observe in Los Angeles speaking Spanish or working in low-income jobs, and then demanding their papers.

Justice Sotomayor, one of the three Justices who dissented, raised a clear alarm in her dissent. She warned that this decision risks turning Latinos into second class citizens. In her words: “We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.”

Crucially, this order is not a final ruling, but it strongly signals the Supreme Court will not uphold strict constitutional limits on the authority of immigration agents to stop and question people they suspect to be immigrants. As the Trump administration ramps up immigration raids in other cities like Chicago, we can expect federal agents to be emboldened by this decision. Concerns that U.S. citizens and lawfully present immigrants may be stopped and questioned on the basis of race are already leading people to avoid public events like the upcoming Mexican Independence Day celebrations in Chicago.

With ICE being given the “green light” to once again target Latinos, it is more important now than ever that Americans stand up, make their voices be heard, and send the message that this is not the country we want to be.

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