LOS ANGELES—A federal appeals court recently agreed with a lower court’s ruling that federal immigration enforcement’s tactics in Los Angeles violated the U.S. Constitution and denied the federal government’s request to overturn the ruling. But the raids have continued, prompting rallies and protests.
Carlos Roberto Montoya, a 52-year-old man from Guatemala, died after being struck by an SUV on the 210 Freeway in San Bernardino while fleeing ICE agents, according to KABC News.
Family friends and workers gathered at the memorial in front of the Home Depot where the raid occurred on August 15.
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stated that Mr. Montoya was not being pursued by any of its personnel, according to the news outlet.
This tragic incident happened approximately one month after U.S. District Judge Maame E. Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) that prohibits federal immigration agents from stopping individuals for questioning absent reasonable suspicion that the person is in violation of U.S. immigration law.
The TRO specifically bars agents from relying exclusively on racial profiling and non-individualized factors like language spoken or accented speech, location, and occupation as the basis for being stopped, explained Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP.
The law firm represents the plaintiffs, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Southern California and a coalition of legal aid groups, in both the underlying district court action, Pedro Vasquez Perdomo v. Kristi Noem, and in the related Ninth Circuit proceedings.
According to Judge Frimpong’s July 11 ruling, defendants may not rely solely on apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent, presence at a particular location (e.g. bus stop, car wash, tow yard, day laborer pick up site, agricultural site, etc.) or the type of work a person does.
“The federal government appealed and sought a stay of the TRO; and on August 1, 2025, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit denied the request for a stay, holding that the government was likely engaged in an unlawful practice of conducting raids based solely on a person’s race and other broad demographic factors. The TRO remains in place,” continued Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP’s online statement.
Mayor Karen Bass claimed the denial as a victory for the rule of law and for the city of Los Angeles. “We must still fight for justice. Los Angeles will stand together against this Administration’s efforts to break up families who contribute every single day to the life, the culture and the economy of our great city.
No matter what, I will continue to stand by you and fight for your rights, your dignity and your place in this city we all call home,” said Mayor Bass in a press statement posted Aug. 1 on mayor.lacity.gov.
“This decision is further confirmation that the administration’s paramilitary invasion of Los Angeles violated the Constitution and caused irreparable injury across the region,” said Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California.
“We look forward to holding the federal government accountable for these authoritarian horrors it unleashed in Southern California, and we invite every person of conscience to join us in defending the integrity and freedom of communities of color across the country,” he added.
According to the ACLU, the raids violated the Fourth Amendment (prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure) and the Fifth Amendment (guaranteeing the right to remain silent).
“Justice prevails with today’s 9th Circuit Court decision, but the real victory will be when all of those who were detained, disappeared, and torn away from their loved ones and communities through these illegal actions and tactics are safely home.
We do have rights in this country, we belong, and we will not rest until they are respected,” said Angelica Salas, executive director, of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).
In early July, noted the ACLU, Southern California residents, workers, and advocacy groups across various industries sued the Department of Homeland Security “for abducting and disappearing community members using unlawful stop and warrantless arrest practices and confining individuals at a federal building in illegal conditions while denying them access to attorneys.”
Petitioner-Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Pedro Perdomo, Carlos Alexander, and Isaac Molina, who were arrested at a bus stop as they were waiting to be picked up for a job on June 18, according to the complaint.
The White House responded quickly to the ruling. “No federal judge has the authority to dictate immigration policy—that authority rests with Congress and the President,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, reported Associated Press.
“Enforcement operations require careful planning and execution; skills far beyond the purview (or) jurisdiction of any judge. We expect this gross overstep of judicial authority to be corrected on appeal.”
The administration asked the Supreme Court to lift the TRO, but the request for a stay has been filed on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, so oral arguments are unlikely, according to CalMatters.org.
“ICE raids and detentions, along with all other forms of state violence, have always been predicated on the dehumanization of non-White people. The mayor’s LAPD relies on race as a proxy for criminality just as much as ICE does,” Matyos Kidane, a L.A.-based community organizer, told The Final Call.
“The recent appeals court decision rests on the reality that the current administration has felt less need to obscure the racist intent behind its policies than its liberal predecessors. But they will certainly try now, in service of continuing this violence,” he said.
Further, he said, his hope for respite from the ICE raids does not lie in appeals court decisions or the celebration of performative victories by some elected officials. “It lies in the community members who have relentlessly fought back against the onslaught waged against their neighbors,” he concluded.
John Parker is a coordinator for the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice. He attributes some of the progress he sees to the strength and visibility of community members. Mr. Parker conceded that not all ICE raids in the city will stop, but that some residents are trying to organize around the issue.
Actions included a recent three-day hunger strike at Placita Olvera Church, also known as Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, “against genocide from L.A. to Gaza.”
Protests were held at several Home Depots in Downtown L.A. and in Upland on Aug. 17. On Aug. 12, immigrant rights advocates took to the streets of Los Angeles for what they called “24 hours of community stoppage,” which included rallies and boycotts of various businesses.
The same day, hundreds marched from MacArthur Park to the County Hall of Administration, and a rally took place at Placita Olvera (Olvera Street), followed by a march to the downtown federal detention center for a vigil.
Activists demand that Mayor Bass, the Los Angeles City Council and politicians “stop being so complicit with ICE,” among other things, Mr. Parker added. They argue that it appears city officials are not being proactive enough.
They state that even after the recent court ruling, raids are still happening and that local law enforcement agencies like the LAPD and the sheriff’s department are coordinating with ICE.
The Final Call contacted Mayor Bass’s office for comments, but did not receive a response.
According to Mr. Kidane, “LAPD works on task forces with DHS and ICE and have even helped them in raids. So, these are kind of baked-in ways that the city has worked with ICE,” he stated.
“Any opposition we’re seeing from the City of Los Angeles and from Mayor Bass isn’t at the whim of Mayor Bass. It’s in direct response to community opposition and community safety and the community doing all the things … boycotting, showing up in front of the federal building and everything like that.”
He added, “As we’re speaking, there are still people out in front of the federal building protesting, and people responding to ICE raids and keeping street vendors safe. And I think that’s the real solution, no matter who’s in the White House. It’s going to be building out that sense of community among Black folks and Brown folks.”