The Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign was dealt a setback in a federal district court in California.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston issued a preliminary injunction barring U.S. Border Patrol from using stop-and-arrest practices that violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution, according to a media release by the ACLU.
The judge’s ruling applies to future Border Patrol operations conducted in the Eastern District of California, which stretches inland from Bakersfield to the Oregon border, essentially the entire Central Valley, including the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys.
The preliminary injunction prohibits Border Patrol agents from stopping people without reasonable suspicion that they are noncitizens and in the U.S. in violation of federal immigration law, and from arresting people without a warrant if agents don’t have probable cause to believe the person is likely to flee, per the ACLU.
Related: Trump’s Guantanamo deportations slowed by judge’s order
The court also ruled that Border Patrol must document all facts and circumstances related to stops and warrantless arrests in the Eastern District and issue guidance to ensure its agents comply with the Fourth Amendment and federal law.
“Today’s order affirms the dignity and constitutional rights of all people,” stated Bree Bernwanger, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California. “Border Patrol must end its illegal stop and arrest practices now.”
Why did Janurary deportation operation target San Joaquin Valley?
The ruling stems from United Farm Workers v. Kristi Noem, as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and heads of the U.S. Border Patrol and El Centro Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol.
In January, Border Patrol agents from the El Centro Sector traveled to Kern County, where they stopped and arrested people and then transported them 300 miles south to El Centro as part of “Operation Return to Sender.”
Plaintiffs contend the Operation was “a nearly weeklong sweep through predominantly Latino areas of Kern County and the surrounding region to stop, detain, and arrest people of color who appeared to be farm workers or day laborers, regardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances.”
At least 40 long-term Kern County residents remain stranded in Mexico, separated from their families and community, according to the ACLU.
In February, the United Farm Workers and five Kern County residents sued the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Border Patrol.
The ACLU Foundations of Northern California, Southern California, San Diego & Imperial Counties represent the plaintiffs, and Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP.
How many people has the Trump Administration deported?
Public records show a surge in immigration enforcement under Trump: a sharp decline in illegal border crossings, increased immigrant arrests, and a growing number of people in ICE detention. But not 139,000 deportations.
“It would have required a massive shift in who is conducting deportations or how deportations are being counted to even begin to get close to the claim of 139,000,” said Austin Kocher, a Syracuse University researcher who regularly compiles and analyzes immigration data.
The administration hasn’t produced government records that would allow for independent scrutiny – a hallmark of accountability in governance.
“The administration is either engaging in a highly creative accounting scheme to inflate the perception of deportations or simply pulling these numbers out of thin air,” Kocher said.
There have been roughly 400 ICE deportation flights since Trump took office, according to Tom Cartwright, who tracks ICE flights daily as a volunteer for Witness at the Border. At roughly 125 people per plane, that’s 50,000 people, which squares with ICE’s own reporting.
“It seems ICE would have needed to operate around double the number of charter flight deportations by air other than the 400 observed to date,” Cartwright said. “I just don’t find these numbers plausible unless DHS is including some amorphous estimate for self-deportations. I would love to know.”
USA TODAY asked the White House and DHS to clarify what is counted in the deportations number. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told USA TODAY it includes removals by CBP and is based on “internal data.”
“We are confident in our numbers,” she said.
The White House press office was copied on communications with USA TODAY and DHS, but didn’t offer a separate response.
Why it’s gotten harder to deport people
In past administrations, the bulk of deportations came from people who crossed the border illegally.
But apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped dramatically under Trump, as illegal border crossings have declined, according to CBP data. That’s made it challenging for the Trump administration to raise its deportation numbers quickly.
Interior enforcement takes more time and resources. It can take as many as half a dozen ICE agents to detain a single person when targeting immigrants in the interior. Still, ICE arrests and detentions have risen, as the Trump administration has deputized other federal agents to conduct immigration enforcement, and CBP customs officers have referred more travelers to ICE for detention and deportation.
“They’ve talked about being transparent about this,” said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. “And certainly they want to note their accomplishments, so what’s the problem with giving some more information than just one number with no breakdown or explanation?”
It’s not clear what the administration is aiming to reach 139,000 deportations, Vaughan said. The administration hasn’t detailed what removal categories they’re including.
“They have a lot to be proud of,” Vaughan said of the administration. “There is no need to hide the removal statistics within a basket of other types of enforcement.”
USA TODAY contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: California federal court stymies Trump’s mass deportation campaign