The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pushed back against a New York Times report about Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles, calling it “wildly inaccurate” for suggesting that ICE is relying on ethnicity to carry out “indiscriminate stops.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to remove restrictions on Los Angeles immigration raids, ruling that the judiciary does not set immigration policy or decide enforcement priorities. Following the decision, the New York Times reported that the move allowed ICE “to make indiscriminate stops based in factors like ethnicity.”
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin criticized that characterization in a post on X.
“The [New York Times] continues to humiliate itself and showcase its incompetence. ‘Indiscriminate stops’ is wildly inaccurate,” she wrote.
“The Supreme Court simply applied longstanding precedent regarding what qualifies as ‘reasonable suspicion’ under the Fourth Amendment. What makes someone a target of ICE is if they are illegally in the U.S. DHS enforces federal immigration law without fear, favor, or prejudice,” McLaughlin added.
The Times highlighted the perspective of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who dissented and claimed that Hispanic laborers could be “fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work and held until they provide proof of their legal status to the agents’ satisfaction.”
The Trump administration had asked the Supreme Court in August to block a district judge’s order that barred reliance on factors such as race, location, type of work, or Spanish-speaking ability when ICE agents conduct stops. The administration argued the judge should not be permitted to “micromanage” federal enforcement.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing in a concurring opinion, noted that the judiciary “does not set immigration policy or decide enforcement priorities.”
