Immigration officials can't stop people based on race, their spoken language in Los Angeles, judge rules

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge on Friday ruled that immigration officers in Southern California can't rely solely on someone's race or speaking Spanish to stop and detain them

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge on Friday ruled that immigration officers in Southern California can't rely solely on someone's race or speaking Spanish to stop and detain them.

District Judge Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order after a lawsuit was filed by three men who were arrested as they waited to be picked up at a Pasadena bus stop for jobs on June 18, and after two others were stopped and questioned despite saying they are U.S. citizens.

Frimpong's order bars the detention of people unless the officer or agent "has reasonable suspicion that the person to be stopped is within the United States in violation of U.S. immigration law."

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, along with other federal law enforcement agencies, attend a pre-enforcement meeting in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025.Christopher Dilts / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileIt says they may not base that suspicion solely on apparent race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; presence at a particular location like a bus stop or day laborer pick-up site; or the type of work one does.

Frimpong wrote in the ruling that most of the questions before her were “simple and non-controversial.”