Overview

• The court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to suspend a district judge’s order that had halted roving patrols and restricted stops in Southern California.
• The majority authorized agents to briefly stop and question people using a totality‑of‑the‑circumstances test for reasonable suspicion, with Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissenting.
• Lower courts had found a mountain of evidence that stops relied on race, language, location and type of work, and the Ninth Circuit had upheld the injunction while faulting the government’s appeal.
• Despite the prior order, Border Patrol ran aggressive operations including an Aug. 28 raid at a Westlake Home Depot that used tear gas and pepper pellets and led to eight detentions, a senior official confirmed.
• Border Patrol leadership under Gregory Bovino has indicated plans to replicate the Los Angeles tactics in other cities, while the ACLU, United Farm Workers and local governments prepare further challenges.