AILA Executive Director: SCOTUS Allows Indiscriminate Immigration Enforcement for Now

AILA Executive Director: SCOTUS Allows Indiscriminate Immigration Enforcement for Now

WASHINGTON, DC - In response to the Supreme Court's order temporarily allowing the Trump Administration to continue its indiscriminate immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, Ben Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), stated:

"This Supreme Court decision upends the U.S. Constitution's guarantee that all Americans will be free from arbitrary targeting by law enforcement. It threatens to transform America into a 'show me your papers' nation where Immigration and Customs Enforcement can target and stop people because of the way they look, sound, work, or even where they are standing in public. Every American should be gravely concerned that the nation's highest court has given a green light to racial profiling. For generations, our Constitution has protected Americans from arbitrary government seizures-protections the Supreme Court has now swept away without explanation or legal reasoning.

"This concerns us all. Justice Sotomayor made clear in her dissent: 'United States citizens are also being seized, taken from their jobs, and prevented from working to support themselves and their families.' AILA and its members will continue to fight for and 'zealously represent' their clients in this chilling and threatening environment, as our oath requires. We will not bend despite this administration's direct attacks on the practice of immigration law, itself. The one saving grace is that the Court's order is only temporary. The plaintiffs will get a full review of their case on the merits by the lower courts where we expect the Constitution and our country's principles will be upheld."