NELP Condemns Supreme Court Decision Allowing Racial Profiling and Mass Immigration Stops 

Statement from Marisa Díaz, Immigrant Worker Justice Program Director, National Employment Law Project (NELP): 

The National Employment Law Project strongly condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to permit discriminatory immigration enforcement in Los Angeles. This ruling grants DHS and other federal agencies a green light to target immigrant workers across the country—especially Indigenous and Latine workers—with militarized force. Any person, regardless of citizenship status, could be stopped or detained based solely on their perceived race and ethnicity. These are not isolated incidents, but part of a sweeping anti-immigrant, anti-worker agenda that weaponizes immigration enforcement to raid workplaces, erode constitutional rights, destabilize families, communities, and local economies, and terrorize entire communities of color. 

We echo Justice Sotomayor’s warning: “We should not have to live in a country where the government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low-wage job.” Yet this is the reality that this decision legitimizes. When immigrant workers are targeted simply for existing in public space, the safety, power, and dignity of all working people are undermined. These actions do not just harm specific communities—they set a dangerous precedent that threatens labor rights, civil liberties, and democratic norms nationwide. 

A just economy—a good-jobs economy—cannot exist alongside fear, racial profiling, and militarized enforcement. NELP is in solidarity with the people of Southern California and immigrant communities nationwide who are organizing for justice. We call for an immediate end to indiscriminate immigration stops and all worksite raids, respect for all workers’ constitutional rights against racial profiling, and the release of those unjustly detained. All workers, regardless of immigration status, deserve the freedom to live, work, and organize without fear.