Statement on Supreme Court Decision Lifting Temporary Ban on ICE Racial Profiling, ‘Roving Patrols’ 

Dēmos president Taifa Smith Butler released the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Noem v. Perdomo, blocking a lower court order that temporarily barred immigration officials from stopping or detaining people without reasonable suspicion in the Los Angeles area.    

“The Court’s greenlighting of indiscriminate raids based on racial profiling while the merits of the underlying case are litigated is a blatant and shameful violation of our constitutional rights. This decision legitimizes the persecution and harassment of both immigrants and U.S. citizens based solely on their perceived race, the language they speak, the work they do, or their presence in certain locations. This will have widespread, rippling effects in communities of color, with particular harm for community members who are Latino or perceived to be Latino. With this decision, the Court has further eroded our norms and beliefs regarding democracy, our rights under the Constitution, and the courts’ role in upholding those rights. 

The Court cements its lack of accountability by providing no explanation for overruling the lower court.

“As Justice Sotomayor notes in her dissenting opinion, this is another example of the Court misusing the emergency docket, or ‘shadow docket.’ The Court cements its lack of accountability by providing no explanation for overruling the lower court. And its actions on this case fuel our descent into authoritarianism." 

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