The Abington Township Human Relations Commission posted on Saturday that it “stands in solidarity with the PHRC’s statement condemning the Supreme Court’s most recent ruling.”
The ruling, handed down on September 8, allows ICE to resume “roving patrols” in Los Angeles and to rely on factors like race, language, or type of employment in conducting stops.
According to USA Today, the case started after a group of Latino residents from California and related workers’ organizations sued the government for “being subject to illegal stops as part of an enforcement blitz that started June 5 in the Los Angeles area.”
From their coverage:
The Trump administration has been using four criteria to see who ICE agents can stop for immigration inquiries, according to court documents. They are: (1) apparent race or ethnicity; (2) speaking Spanish or English with an accent; (3) presence at a particular location such as a carwash or day laborer pickup site; and (4) the type of work the person does.
The people who sued the administration argued that it was illegal for the administration to solely use these criteria. The Trump administration wrote in a court filing that the people suing and the courts themselves acknowledge that “ICE at least sometimes relies on additional factors.”
The Supreme Court’s decision allows ICE to return to using the four criteria in the Los Angeles area.
“The PHRC condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, which opens the door to racial profiling by allowing immigration stops based on race, language, occupation, or location,” the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission posted Saturday morning.
“This ruling is a dangerous step backward for civil rights,” Executive Director Chad Dion Lassiter, MSW, said in a statement. “The PHRC stands firmly against racial profiling and for a Pennsylvania where everyone is treated with dignity, fairness, and equality under the law.”
The PHRC’s full statement is here. More about the case below:
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