By Black Star News
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
Tuesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a coalition of 17 attorney-generals in filing a second amicus brief pursuing litigation against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) for unlawful and unconstitutional stops in Southern California during immigration raids.
The lawsuit is a response to Trump’s ongoing militaristic heavy-handedness as his administration pursues their xenophobic offensive immigration sweeps that are terrifying both immigrants and non-immigrant residents of California.
Previously, the District Court for the Central District of California, granted a temporary restraining order against CBP and ICE. The Ninth Circuit Court has also agreed that the Trump Administration’s actions are unconstitutional.
Attorney General Rob Bonta spoke about the amicus brief.
“The Trump Administration is conducting immigration stops of California residents based solely off the color of their skin, the language that they speak, or the job that they work in a brazen violation of the Fourth Amendment,” said Bonta. “These immigration raids are not about detaining violent criminals – they’re about meeting arbitrary quotas, no matter the cost. It’s not just immoral, it’s unconstitutional. I urge the court to block ICE and CBP from employing these racially-motivated, unscrupulous tactics and allow our communities to return to peace.”
Trump, during his presidential campaign, praised California’s 1954 “Operation Wetback” immigration enforcement initiative, calling it a good blueprint for his mass deportation program. During Operation Wetback, some 300,000 people—including American citizens—were ensnared in a mass arrest and deportation scheme. Recently, Trump has sought to mirror the tactics of Operation Wetback cheering on masked agents as they rampage through California’s diverse communities.
In Tuesday’s amicus brief, Bonta, and the other attorney generals, say the preliminary injunction is in the public interest because:
(1) Federal law enforcement’s tactics in conducting these stops, which include wearing masks and concealing the law enforcement entity they work for, have impeded local law enforcement and threatened public safety.
(2) CBP and ICE [are] engaging in unlawful stops of Californians without a reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity has harmed local economies, public health, and several other core facets of daily life.
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