President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security just asked the Supreme Court for permission to racially profile the immigrants it’s hunting.
The administration requested that the Supreme Court pause the injunction blocking them from carrying out their “roving” immigration raids in Los Angeles, which involve them being able to simply accost and harass anyone who is speaking Spanish or who looks like they might, whether it be at their job, their school, their place of worship, or more.
“Likewise, apparent ethnicity can be a factor supporting reasonable suspicion in appropriate circumstances—for instance, if agents know that the members of a criminal organization under investigation are disproportionately members of one ethnic group—even if it would not be relevant in other circumstances,” the request reads. “And, in context, officers might reasonably rely on the fact that someone exclusively speaks Spanish to support reasonable suspicion that the person is here illegally, not least because a disproportionate percentage of illegal aliens in the Central District speak Spanish and do not speak English fluently or at all.… All of this reflects common sense: the reasonable-suspicion threshold is low, and the number of people who are illegally present and subject to detention and removal under the immigration laws in the Central District is extraordinarily high and starts off at a one-in-10 probability just among the general population.”
This isn’t “common sense,” it’s blatant racism. If you live in Los Angeles, if you speak Spanish, and if you have brown skin, you are a target—regardless of your immigration status. The briefing also offered no citation for the claim that 10 percent of the Central District’s population is here illegally and engaged in criminal activity.
The brief continues.
“Needless to say, no one thinks that speaking Spanish or working in construction always creates reasonable suspicion. Nor does anyone suggest those are the only factors federal agents ever consider. But in many situations, such factors—alone or in combination—can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States, above and beyond the one-in-10 baseline odds in the District. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are entitled to rely on these factors when ramping up enforcement of immigration laws in the District.”
ICE isn’t saying the quiet part out loud; it’s shouting it from the rooftops. Their priority is to detain Latinos indiscriminately and figure out the rest later because that’s what Trump and his white nationalist cadre think is best for the country.
Homeland Security has gone and will continue to go to great lengths to deny its racial motivations, even calling racial profiling accusations “hogwash.” But its own officers have admitted to chasing people down with absolutely zero confirmation of their immigration status. And for the “if they’re innocent and legal, why would they run?” crowd: What would you do if a bunch of masked men hopped out of an unmarked car or a Penske truck and pounced on you with no warning?