The Daily Fuckup

A federal judge on July 11 put temporary limits on part of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in Southern California, ordering agents not to use race, ethnicity, language, accent, location, or type of work by themselves as the basis for stops and arrests in seven counties, including Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued the order in ongoing litigation, so it does not end immigration enforcement in the region. But it does bar federal agents from treating those factors, standing alone, as enough to justify reasonable suspicion. The judge also entered a separate order dealing with attorney access at a Los Angeles immigration detention facility.

The case has become another test of how far the administration can push immigration operations before courts draw a line. Plaintiffs said agents had been making stops and arrests without the individualized suspicion the law requires. The administration has denied wrongdoing and defended the legality of its tactics.

For now, the practical effect is narrower than a shutdown. The government still can carry out immigration enforcement, but it has to do it under a temporary court order that limits how agents can justify stops and arrests in part of California while the underlying case moves forward.