LA judge partly blocks suspicionless immigration stops by federal agents

A Los Angeles federal judge has partly granted a restriction on alleged race-based, suspicionless stops of suspected illegal immigrants by federal agents across the district, according to mynewsla.com. The ruling addresses an ongoing campaign of warrantless and discriminatory immigration enforcement stops in the region since summer 2025, as reported by the ACLU of Southern California.

The case, Vasquez Perdomo vs. Mullin, was filed in July 2025 by the ACLU of Southern California, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), and other community groups, challenging immigration enforcement raids and detention practices across the Los Angeles area as violations of the Fourth Amendment, sgvtribune.com and presstelegram.com reported.

The lawsuit arose from an incident on June 18, 2025, in Pasadena, where three men were detained by federal immigration agents while waiting for a bus near a Winchell’s Donuts store. The men were on their way to assist with rebuilding efforts in Altadena, according to sgvtribune.com and presstelegram.com.

The plaintiffs include the three Pasadena men as well as two others from Baldwin Park and East Los Angeles who were also stopped and questioned by federal agents. The lawsuit alleges unconstitutional detention practices involving racial profiling and suspicionless stops, targeting people who appear Latino and low-income or working-class, according to mynewsla.com.

U.S. District Judge Maame Frimpong issued the order partly granting the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction against these immigration enforcement practices, as reported by mynewsla.com. The ruling aims to limit the federal agents’ ability to carry out such stops without reasonable suspicion across the Los Angeles district.