Supreme Court Grants Trump Green Light for Expanded ICE Patrols in California

On Monday, the Supreme Court sided with President Donald Trump’s efforts to permit immigration enforcement agents to continue what opponents have called “roving patrols” in Southern California—tactics that lower courts had ruled likely violated the Fourth Amendment.

The justices gave no explanation for the ruling, which drew a strong dissent from the Court’s three liberal members. The case stemmed from incidents in which heavily armed, masked ICE agents stopped and questioned Latino residents in the Los Angeles area—including U.S. citizens—about their immigration status. Lower courts concluded ICE lacked the “reasonable suspicion” needed to justify such encounters.

While the decision directly affects seven counties in Southern California, it arrives amid the Trump administration’s broader immigration crackdown and is expected to be viewed as implicit approval of similar enforcement tactics beyond the region.