• "Kavanaugh stop" describes a U.S. immigration enforcement tactic where federal agents briefly detain individuals based on a reasonable suspicion that blends perceived ethnicity, language, location, and occupation—stopping short of probable cause.
  • The term originates from Justice Brett Kavanaugh's 2025 concurrence in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, where he noted that while ethnicity alone is insufficient, it can be a "relevant factor" in Fourth Amendment determinations—a concept coined by Drexel law professor Anil Kalhan.
  • The legal battle began on July 2, 2025, when the ACLU sued the Trump administration over ICE raids in Los Angeles, and on July 11, 2025, Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order, barring arrests without probable cause.
  • On August 1, 2025, the Ninth Circuit upheld the order, ruling that the government's broad profiling criteria (race, language, location, and work type) "do not demonstrate reasonable suspicion for any particular stop."
  • The case also exposed a verbal policy of a 3,000-ICE-arrests-per-day quota, allegedly communicated by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, pushing the ACLU toward a permanent injunction.