No one should experience violence from the federal government because of the color of their skin or their appearance as a low-wage, Latine worker.
Yet, in newly disclosed court documents, we’ve exposed what community members and advocates on the ground have known all along: the Trump administration has relied on race and ethnicity to decide whom to stop during its immigration enforcement operations.
Through our lawsuit, Vasquez Perdomo v. Mullin, we’ve obtained internal communications including text messages, body-worn camera footage, operational records, and sworn testimony from officials that paint a disturbing picture of how these unlawful operations are carried out. As demonstrated in our recent filing, federal agents repeatedly relied on Latine appearance — not individualized reasonable suspicion — to stop and detain people, including U.S. citizens.
Beyond our inherent human right to dignity, the Constitution prohibits police and federal agents from using race as a substitute for individualized reasonable suspicion. This is why plaintiffs in our case recently asked a federal court to block the administration from conducting suspicionless and racist immigration stops.
As our case continues, know that we at the ACLU SoCal, along with our clients and co-counsel, will continue to defend all our communities and our fundamental rights.
The lawsuit Vasquez Perdomo v. Mullin was brought by five individual plaintiffs along with three membership organizations, Los Angeles Worker Center Network, United Farm Workers and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) as well as the legal services provider Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
The plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin, UC Irvine School of Law Immigrant and Racial Justice Solidarity Clinic, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Public Counsel, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, Hecker Fink LLP, ACLU Foundations of Northern California and San Diego & Imperial Counties, CHIRLA, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and Martínez Aguilasocho Law, Inc.