Another victory for Trump: the court reactivates ICE operations in California

The United States Supreme Court ruled on Monday that President Donald Trump's administration can arrest anyone suspected of being in the country illegally, thus overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited immigration agents from conducting patrols and detentions.

The six justices who formed the majority opinion of the ruling explained that immigration officers have the right to detain people for questioning if they are suspected of being illegal immigrants. The ruling is signed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, appointed by Trump during his first term.

“Here, the relevant circumstances are: that there is an extremely high number and percentage of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles; (...) that these individuals often work in certain types of jobs (...) that do not require paperwork and, therefore, are especially attractive to illegal immigrants; and that many of those who are illegally in the area come from Mexico or Central America and do not speak much English”, Kavanaugh explained.

ICE and Border Patrol are once again operating freely in California.

The Department of Homeland Security reported last week that it had arrested more than 5,000 illegal immigrants in Los Angeles since June 6, the date on which Trump ordered government forces to intervene in the city.

Gregory Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol in charge of the operation in the California city, has described the operation as a success that has removed "the worst of the worst from the area." Most of the arrests have been carried out in Home Depot parking lots, at car washes, and on farms, places whose workforce mainly comes from illegal immigration.

However, on July 11, a Democratic judge from a lower court issued a temporary restraining order that halted ICE and Border Patrol activities in the area. Two weeks later, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with this judge's ruling.

The White House appealed these two rulings to the highest court and succeeded in having immigration raids regain legal effect in Los Angeles. Government attorneys argued that the widespread presence of undocumented individuals in the Central District of California, where 1 in 10 people is an illegal immigrant, justifies the agents' detentions.