The U.S. Supreme Court has made a decision that eases the restrictions on how federal immigration enforcement agencies can detain immigrants they suspect of being in the U.S. unlawfully. This ruling might influence how similar activities are carried out in other cities, including Chicago and Boston.

On Monday, the justices voted 6-3 to allow a halt on a previous temporary ban, which prevented federal officers from stopping people without reasonable suspicion.

This decision follows a previous ruling by a U.S. District Court judge in California, which prohibited federal immigration officers from stopping individuals based on factors such as race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or accented English, being found at locations like carwashes or day laborer gathering spots, or holding certain jobs.

The White House asked for an emergency intervention, calling the lower court’s ruling a “straitjacket” on federal immigration enforcement.

Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, referred to the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday as “a win for the safety of Californians and the rule of law.”

“@DHSgov law enforcement will not be hindered and will persist in arresting and deporting murderers, rapists, gang members, and other criminal illegal aliens, whom Karen Bass continues to protect,” McLaughlin commented.

Even though the ruling was specific to Southern California, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cautioned that other cities in the U.S. targeted by agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be alert.

“I want the entire nation to hear me when I say this isn’t just an attack on the people of Los Angeles,” Bass said in a prepared statement. “This is an attack on every person in every city in this country. Today’s ruling is not only dangerous it’s un-American and threatens the fabric of personal freedom in the United States of America.”

The Supreme Court ruling comes as the Department of Homeland Security has announced that immigration enforcement agencies like ICE will ramp up operations in Chicago and Boston.

DHS officials on Monday announced “Operation Midway Blitz”, which is expected to surge the number of federal immigration officers working on targeted operations in Chicago in the coming days.

How immigration ruling could affect ICE operations in other cities

Sophia Genovese, a clinical teaching fellow and supervising attorney at Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Legal Studies, agreed with Bass’ assessment that the ruling could have a nationwide effect.

Genovese, a Los Angeles native, told on Monday that Los Angeles has served as a blueprint for other large-scale enforcement operations expected to take place.  She said that with its ruling, the Supreme Court justices essentially gave DHS “carte blanche authority” to detain people based on their race.

While the previous federal court ruling determined that the four factors were not enough to detain someone, Monday’s ruling strips away those restrictions.  Genovese called the ruling “dangerous.” She said that now, immigrants who live in the United States legally or are green-card holders can be stopped based on their race alone.

She expects that a practice that some have characterized as racial profiling by ICE affects those in Los Angeles but also in other cities that may be targeted for larger-scale immigration enforcement by the Trump administration.

On Monday, asked about ICE practices as it relates to Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, White House Border Czar Tom Homan responded, “There’s no racial profiling.”

Instead, Homan said that a “myriad of factors” go into what is needed to establish reasonable suspicion, which he called the “legal framework” for who is detained by ICE.

“ICE (officers are) all very well trained to make sure they establish reasonable suspicion, to briefly detain and question somebody,” Homan said. “And the Supreme Court agreed.”

While the legal process surrounding the California federal court ruling remains unfinished, Genovese expects the Los Angeles case to mirror other legal challenges that could arise in states like Illinois, Massachusetts and other Democrat-led cities that Trump administration officials have threatened to go after.

Does ruling set precedent for more legal challenges over ICE arrests?

Genovese told that she expects warrantless arrests of migrants to be challenged. However, she expects ICE and other federal immigration enforcement agencies to feel empowered by the White House and the Supreme Court.

She says those possible impending legal challenges could further clog up a court system that is already inundated with immigration-related challenges.

“It’s really deeply troubling, this new pattern of the Supreme Court stepping in when lower courts issue injunctions attempting to put guardrails up for the Trump administration, striking down their unlawful action, only to have an emergency appeal sent to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court rubber stamps whatever the Trump administration wants to do,” Genovese said.

The Trump administration has accused elected officials in other states, such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, of protecting migrant criminals. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused both officials of prioritizing undocumented migrants over Illinois residents.

In announcing new operations in Chicago and Boston, DHS officials accused the mayors of those cities of allowing migrant criminals to be released.

While DHS’s focus remains on cities with “sanctuary” policies in place, a California law professor told affiliate KTLA that Monday’s ruling will green-light immigration enforcement to continue as it has.

“At this point, it’s the Supreme Court saying that ICE agents can essentially continue doing what they were previously doing, which is that they can continue these raids where they are rounding up people and detaining them in order to determine their immigration status,” Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson said.