LA Block on ICE Racial Profiling Remains After Pause Denied

The Ninth Circuit denied the federal government’s request to pause a district court’s temporary restraining order on immigration enforcement in the Central District of California.

The order leaves intact, for now, a block barring US authorities in the region from using racial or ethnic profiling during immigration sweeps, and requiring detainees to have access to lawyers.

Federal rules require parties in most cases to ask a district court to pause an order pending appeal before bringing that request to appellate judges. The government didn’t request a stay from the district judge until after it asked the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which was too late, a Wednesday night order filed by the court’s clerk said.

The case was brought by a group of California residents, legal advocates, and organizers, who said immigration raids are terrorizing the region.

It’s part of a broader clash between Democratic leaders and the Trump administration over immigration that has zeroed in on Los Angeles. Trump has argued he’s following the will of voters to deport undocumented immigrants.

The order also said the federal government didn’t show a reason why moving for a stay with the lower court would’ve been too difficult, the order said.

A motion for a stay “to allow the Solicitor General to determine whether to appeal and seek a stay pending appeal” that was denied by US District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong doesn’t satisfy the requirement, the order said.

The government can try the motion again after Frimpong rules on it, the order said.

Frimpong, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, ordered July 11 that agents need reasonable suspicion people are in the US illegally to stop and question them that isn’t based on their race, ethnicity, spoken language, job, or location.

The plaintiffs say authorities are grabbing workers at places like farms, car washes, and bus stops and holding them in “dungeon-like” conditions in a room in the basement of a downtown L.A. federal building, sometimes unable to contact lawyers.

The case is Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, 9th Cir., No. 25-4312, 7/16/25.