The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for immigration agents to resume “roving patrols” in Los Angeles, overturning a lower court order that had barred federal officers from stopping people based on race, language, or type of work. The Sept. 8 decision in Perdomo v. Noem immediately reignited fears of mass racial profiling across one of the country’s most immigrant-rich cities.

In a 6–3 vote on the Court’s controversial ‘shadow docket,’ the conservative majority backed the Trump administration. It lifts a Ninth Circuit injunction that had blocked immigration sweeps launched this summer in Los Angeles under “Operation At Large.” Those sweeps relied on broad profile factors to stop people at day-labor sites, bus stops, and workplaces.

At the center of the case were four criteria that lower courts had deemed unconstitutional: stopping people for their apparent race or ethnicity, for speaking Spanish or accented English, for standing in places associated with immigrant workers, or for working jobs common among undocumented immigrants such as landscaping or construction. Both the district court and the Ninth Circuit agreed these amounted to racial profiling. But the Supreme Court reversed course. In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that such factors can be considered under the “totality of the circumstances.” He argued that Los Angeles’s large immigrant population, concentration of day labor sites, and prevalence of Spanish speakers make these “relevant” factors for reasonable suspicion.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, delivered a blistering dissent. She warned the ruling effectively permits the government to seize “anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low-wage job,” calling it a “grave misuse of our emergency docket.”

The decision comes after a summer of aggressive ICE activity. Agents in tactical gear and unmarked vehicles, sometimes hiding in rental trucks, raided Home Depot parking lots, car washes, and other public gathering places, including many locations on the Westside. Reports document the use of tear gas and pepper-ball projectiles, families separated during arrests, and at least two deaths linked to the raids.

Despite DHS rhetoric about targeting “murderers, rapists, and gang members,” local data shows most of those arrested had no serious criminal record. Community organizers say Angelenos have been detained simply for having brown skin or speaking Spanish, with some U.S. citizens caught up in the sweeps. The fear has been palpable, and one nonprofit director warned the ruling signals “a never-ending nightmare” for immigrant families.

The case now returns to the Ninth Circuit, which will hold a hearing on Sept. 24 to consider a longer-term injunction. But for now, the Supreme Court’s stay gives ICE full authority to continue patrols in Los Angeles. DHS wasted no time, promising to “flood the zone,” and has already expanded similar operations to Chicago and Washington, D.C. Community groups are mobilizing know-your-rights trainings, rapid-response patrols, and food delivery for those too afraid to leave their homes.