The Trump administration has filed an emergency request with the courts to suspend a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by a federal judge in Los Angeles, which prohibits Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting detentions without ‘reasonable suspicion’ that an individual is in the country unlawfully. The TRO was issued by U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, a Biden appointee, who ruled that ICE’s practices in California may violate constitutional protections under the Fourth Amendment. The order strictly limits the agency’s ability to rely on race, ethnicity, accent, location, or type of work as grounds for suspicion.
According to the Trump administration’s filing, the lawsuit originated from a petition submitted by three individual aliens requesting their release from immigration detention. However, the plaintiffs’ counsel later added a host of new individual and organizational plaintiffs, expanding the legal challenge to include systemic claims about federal immigration enforcement. The administration argues the judge’s order threatens to disrupt immigration operations and impose an undue burden on law enforcement.
“This ruling imposes an undue burden on lawful immigration enforcement and could undermine the separation of powers, as the government is asking for an immediate stay of this order pending appeal,” the filing states. The administration emphasized that the judge failed to consider the recent Supreme Court ruling which rejected the use of universal injunctions, arguing that the current order is too broad in its scope. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass supported the decision, calling it a critical step in stopping alleged unconstitutional raids by the Trump administration, which she described as aggressive and harmful.
Immigration rights groups and several local governments, including Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver, and West Hollywood, have intervened in the case, as have Democrat-led states that filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs. The case has grown from a routine petition into a major challenge over the way ICE conducts its operations in the region. Legal analysts suggest that the outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications for federal immigration enforcement strategy, especially in areas with strong anti-immigration policies and advocacy efforts.