Members of Congress and the top prosecutor in New Mexico are condemning a U.S. Supreme Court decision that at least temporarily allows immigration officials to stop individuals based on what critics say is racial profiling.
The 6-3 decision announced on Monday granted the federal government’s request to pause a lower court ruling that limited when immigration officials could conduct stops of individuals to those instances where there is reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country without legal status. Under the lower court ruling, immigration stops could not be conducted based on a person’s race, the language they speak, their presence at a place where migrants without legal status are known to gather, or for performing certain types of work.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-03) said in a post on the social media network X on Monday that the Supreme Court’s ruling will force Latinos to carry passports with them at all times to avoid detention.
“Today, the Supreme Court opened the door to a world where simply looking Latino, speaking Spanish, or working a humble job is enough for armed agents to detain you, throw you to the ground, and demand ‘proof’ that you are a citizen,” she stated.
Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-NM, said in his own post on X that the majority on the Supreme Court is “giving President Trump the power to target whoever he wants and attacking our basic liberties and freedoms.”
In a press release issued on Tuesday, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) called the Supreme Court’s move “morally wrong and un-American.”
“When you look back in history, there is a distinct and dangerous turning point in authoritarian regimes when the courts are either disbanded or become complicit. Yesterday, President Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court majority became complicit,” Heinrich said, referring to the fact that three of the justices who voted to award the temporary injunction were appointed by Trump to the court during his first term.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez also weighed in on the decision, saying it is “a grave insult to the people of New Mexico.”
“Our state has the highest proportion of Latinos in the nation – many of them, like me, American citizens who have lived in New Mexico for generations. This unconscionable decision, which ignores our constitutional rights, makes us second-class citizens in our own country,” he stated in a press release.
Torrez added that the Constitution of the State of New Mexico still prohibits racial profiling and warned that law enforcement officers must still adhere to state law, even while working with federal officials.