Professor Johnson Comments for CalMatters About Roving Immigration Stops

Professor Kevin R. Johnson spoke to CalMatters for an Aug. 7 story about the Trump administration filing an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court to lift a temporary ban on the use of "roving" immigration stops in Los Angeles.

A federal judge in Los Angeles issued the temporary restraining order in July stating that federal immigration authorities could not use race, ethnicity, language and location or employment as factors for reasonable suspicion. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the court filing that the order significantly blocks agents' ability to enforce immigration laws.

Johnson told CalMatters, “This is basically a racial profiling case: Can Latinos be shaken down in their communities and where they live because they look Latino?” 

He went on to say in the article that if the temporary restraining order is lifted it will cause serious harm.

“These roving patrols are terrifying communities,” Johnson said. “It’s going to have an impact on whether people are going to take their kids to school and whether people can take their kids to the doctor.”   

Kevin R. Johnson is a distinguished professor of law, Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law. Johnson is the director of the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies and also has an appointment as professor of Chicana/o studies at UC Davis. He served as dean of UC Davis Law from 2008 to 2024. Johnson is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law and civil rights.