By Makenna Cabrera
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a 6-3 decision on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the rulings of two lower courts in Vazquez Perdomo v. Noem, allowing federal immigration agencies to continue using enforcement practices that critics call unconstitutional and racially discriminatory.
The ruling followed protests in Los Angeles earlier this year against the Trump administration’s mass deportation program led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A press release from the ACLU of Southern California detailed the decision’s impact on immigrant communities and their support networks.
The lawsuit, brought by workers, the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, United Farm Workers, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, alleged that the Department of Homeland Security unlawfully arrested and detained people to meet deportation quotas. Plaintiffs said agents targeted individuals “solely on four factors… including apparent race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or English with an accent; presence in a particular location like a bus stop, car wash, or agricultural site; or the type of work a person does.”
Pedro Vazquez Perdomo, the lead plaintiff, said, “When ICE grabbed me, they never showed a warrant or explained why. I was treated like I didn’t matter — locked up, cold, hungry, and without a lawyer. Now, the Supreme Court says that’s okay? That’s not justice. That’s racism with a badge.”
Teresa Romero, president of UFW, called the decision dangerous. “Today’s SCOTUS ruling puts farm workers — and every Californian who looks or sounds like they might be an immigrant — in great danger. This does not impact immigrants in a vacuum, it will affect all of us,” she said. “We will continue to seek a preliminary injunction in this case, and we will keep fighting.”
Alvaro M. Huerta of Immigrant Defenders Law Center said, “Sadly, today’s decision effectively greenlights racial profiling while the case plays out in the lower courts.”
Mark Rosenbaum of Public Counsel added, “Today’s decision gives license to the Trump administration to resume racially discriminatory raids across Los Angeles, detaining people without evidence or due process simply because of the color of their skin, the language they speak, or the work they do.”
Armando Gudino, executive director of the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, called it a constitutional setback. “The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of racial profiling. A dark shadow had been cast over this country’s Constitution and its future,” he said. “The decision legitimizes the unconstitutional practice of targeting individuals based on their race, language or neighborhood.”
Annie Lai, director of the Immigrant and Racial Justice Solidarity Clinic at UC Irvine School of Law, said the ruling undermined the Fourth Amendment but praised her clients’ resilience. “Our clients have faced the government with incredible bravery and will continue to do so. We will be right alongside them,” she said.
Chandra Bhatnagar of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California compared the government’s tactics to other forms of targeted discrimination. He said the raids were “another physical manifestation of the Trump administration’s attempt to treat people as second-class citizens due to who they are, what they look like, and who they love.”
Despite the ruling, immigrant rights leaders expressed determination to keep fighting. Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA, said, “The administration’s war on immigrants is going to fail. Very soon, we’ll be back in court continuing to fight against these obviously illegal policies. We will continue to watch, document, and protest peacefully what we see is lawless, mass roundups and a federal policy of cruelty and detention.”
Huerta echoed that sentiment, saying, “Despite the Supreme Court’s disheartening decision to greenlight ICE’s unlawful terror tactics, our commitment to Southern California’s immigrant communities is unwavering.”
Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, emphasized community action. “Angelenos are not waiting to be saved by courts or politicians. Only the people will protect the people. Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo,” he said.
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