US court backs Trump on Los Angeles immigration raids

The United States Supreme Court has allowed large-scale immigration raids in Los Angeles to continue, overturning a lower court order that had stopped federal agents from making random checks.

In a 6-3 ruling on Monday, the conservative-majority court handed President Donald Trump a major win as he pushes for record deportations of migrants living illegally in the country.

The decision means immigration officers can stop people based on factors like race, language or type of work, while a broader legal battle continues in the lower courts.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, said, “To be clear, apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion. However, it can be a ‘relevant factor’ when considered along with other salient factors.”

But Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote for the three liberal judges, strongly disagreed, warning that “countless people in the Los Angeles area have been grabbed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed simply because of their looks, their accents, and the fact they make a living by doing manual labour.”

The White House praised the ruling, saying it would “continue fulfilling its mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens.”

Democrats in California, however, condemned the decision. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described it as “dangerous” and “un-American,” while Governor Gavin Newsom accused Trump of running a “private police force” against immigrant families.

The case began after immigration advocacy groups sued the Trump administration, accusing agents of “roving patrols” at places like bus stops, farms and construction sites, where workers were stopped and questioned without legal grounds.

Brian Gavidia, an American citizen wrongly detained in June, told the BBC he was shocked by the ruling. “I thought we had laws here about racial profiling,” he said.

Another plaintiff, Armando Gudino of the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, warned the ruling could have national consequences. “The court has legalised racism,” he said.

Trump began the raids in June, sparking protests across Los Angeles. He later deployed nearly 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines, though a judge later declared the move illegal.

The administration has since signaled that similar operations could be expanded to Washington DC and Chicago.