The Brief

The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to lift a temporary restraining order that blocked “roving” immigration stops in Los Angeles and eight other California counties.

In an emergency appeal, the federal government argued the order poses a significant barrier to enforcing federal immigration laws. The request for a stay is filed on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, so oral arguments are not likely.

An attorney for the plaintiffs in the initial suit — a coalition of civil rights, immigrant rights, and local government agencies — said they look forward to arguing the case before the high court.

"The federal government has now gone running to the Supreme Court asking it to undo a narrow court order—applicable in only one judicial district—that merely compels them to follow the Constitution.” said Mohammad Tajsar, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California.

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued the temporary restraining order last month in the Central District of California, citing “a mountain of evidence” that the government’s aggressive enforcement tactics likely violated people’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Trump's Solicitor General, D. John Sauer argued in the filing with the high court that Frimpong’s order puts a “straitjacket” on agents and “threatens to upend immigration officials’ ability to enforce the immigration laws … by hanging the prospect of contempt over every investigative stop of suspected illegal aliens.”

Frimpong ruled federal immigration authorities could not rely on four factors for reasonable suspicion: race, ethnicity, language, and location or employment; either solely or in combination.

'A racial profiling case'

“This is basically a racial profiling case: Can Latinos be shaken down in their communities and where they live because they look Latino?” Kevin R. Johnson, the director of Aoki Center on Critical Race and Nation Studies at UC Davis School of Law, said Thursday in response to the administration filing.

Starting in early June, heavily armed agents, often in masks and plain clothes or military-style uniforms, aggressively detained immigrants and U.S. citizens using heavy wartime equipment at Home Depots, car washes, and Latino markets across Los Angeles. Agents often filmed the arrests and shared the videos on social media, set to hip hop music. The Trump administration vowed to bring similar actions to cities across the nation, especially in blue states.

The federal government’s appeal to the Supreme Court follows a denial from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week to lift the temporary restraining order.

Multiple legal cases involving Trump’s immigration policies have already reached the Supreme Court, including the government’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members. The Supreme Court lifted a lower court’s temporary restraining order that had blocked those deportations. Many of the high court’s rulings, especially on immigration issues, have sided with the administration in recent months.

“I think it’s not surprising that if you’re having some wins in the courts through appeals, you bring appeals,” said Johnson, who noted both Democrat and Republican administrations have used the appeal strategy.

Prior to the temporary restraining order, Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, the leader of the LA operations, carried out military-style raids across large swaths of Los Angeles. Calmatters and Bellingcat mapped out over 100 locations of raids including 15 separate Home Depots.

After the lower court’s order, he moved operations northward to the state’s capital.

'No sanctuary anywhere'

“There is no sanctuary anywhere,” Bovino said after a July 17 raid at a Home Depot in Sacramento. “We’re here to stay. We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to affect this mission and secure the homeland.”

Frimpong’s restraining order did not entirely stop immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, heavily armed Border Patrol and other federal agents hid inside a Penske truck before jumping out and ambushing people at a Home Depot in an operation dubbed “Trojan Horse.”

In a written statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol agents conducted a “targeted raid” at the Home Depot that “resulted in the arrests of 16 illegal aliens from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua."

Johnson of UC Davis said at least the federal government is pursuing a legal avenue to continue its actions, but if the temporary restraining order is lifted, it could cause “real damage” in the LA community.

“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.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Angelenos looking up Saturday may have noticed a particularly striking sight — a vibrant sunset framed by clouds.

Tropical moisture coming in from far off the coast could explain it.

“One thing that might have played a role in making it look awfully nice yesterday was those high clouds that were moving in,” Robert Munroe, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said. “The way the sun was hitting the high clouds made some bright yellows and oranges in the sky. That moisture is actually related to probably mostly Odalys.”

An early sunset at yesterday's "Be The Light" 5K event in Valencia last night.

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Jenn Baughman

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Jenn Baughman

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Odalys is the hurricane (since downgraded to a tropical storm) churning off the coast of Mexico, along with Hurricane Polo.

Neither is expected to make landfall here, but they're forecast to bring high surf, dangerous rip tides and potential flooding to coastlines already battered this month by Hurricane Marie.

The bright side is Munroe said those high clouds from yesterday will be sticking around through at least today, which could make for another pretty sunset this evening.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 struck off the South Bay at about 8:40 a.m. and was reported as being felt as far as Oxnard.

The U.S. Geological Survey says it was centered about four miles west-southwest of Hermosa Beach. More than 1,500 people reported feeling it within the first hour after it struck. [You can report what you felt to the USGS.]

No significant damage has been reported, which is typical at this low of a magnitude.

The quake was below the threshold of 4.0 magnitude that triggers an alert on the ShakeAlert app.

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Courtesy ShakeAlert

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We have earthquake resources

We don't want to scare you, but the Big One is coming. We don't know when, but we know it'll be at least 44 times stronger than Northridge and 11 times stronger than the Ridgecrest quakes in 2019. To help you get prepared, we've compiled a handy reading list:

• Your guide to surviving the Big One
• For earthquakes, forget the 'go-bag.' Here's how to prepare
• How to not get life-threatening diarrhea after a major earthquake
• 10 earthquake-related questions to ask your landlord immediately
• How to prepare for an earthquake if you have a disability

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On a Sunday night at the Mexican restaurant La Popular in Claremont, diners are eating to a soundtrack that starts with cumbia and jumps to J Balvin and Bad Bunny before landing on Luther Vandross.

That’s the aim of DJ collective Compás Discoteca — to bring connection and community through live vinyl mixing at La Popular and El Balcon in Ontario.

How Compás Discoteca was born 

Ricardo Carlos, Elias Ruiz, Albert Piña and Adrian Silva have been friends for about two decades. They all DJ as a hobby and often share music. On a night out in 2024, they saw a sign: a parking space for a “compact car,” minus two letters.

“The C and T are missing — compá. Like, ‘We're compás,’” Carlos said, recounting that night.

A "Compás Discoteca" turntable mat.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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Their DJ collective, Compás Discoteca, was born. “Compás” means “buddies” in Spanish and “Discoteca” means “nightclub."

Seasoning the scene

When Compás Discoteca first formed, the members said Southern California’s vinyl-listening scene was more focused on track selection, letting songs play out in full. The collective wanted to bring more life to the experience by mixing music live.

“It just seemed a little stale,” Silva said. “I feel like we helped to bring some seasoning to that.”

They also wanted to play genres people wouldn’t normally hear together.

“You might hear us jump from funk to cumbia to hip-hop to disco, soul to house. We're just trying to take people on a journey with us,” Silva said.

Each compá takes their turn at the turntables for two 30-minute sets. And each brings their own sound.

Three of the "compás" pose for a picture in between their sets.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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Silva is the “party-starter.” He gets people dancing.

Carlos has a Latin bent, taking influence from his Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Creole roots.

Ruiz lives for “jaw-drop moments” and brings records he thinks will surprise his fellow DJs.

Piña spins rare world grooves in the funk and boogie vein.

“He probably gets the most Shazams from us and from the audience,” Ruiz said of Piña. “But most importantly, you feel like you're hanging out and with some good music.”

Albert Piña prepares looks through a box of vinyl records during his DJ set at "La Popular" in Claremont.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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Feeding off the energy

Compás Discoteca DJs at El Balcon in Ontario on the first Friday of each month and at La Popular in Claremont on the third Sunday.

The vibes for Sundays are chill, they said, and Fridays are for letting it all loose.

“There's like an energy there, like, ‘Oh, man, we made it through the week.’ We try to feed off of that,” Piña said.

Along Highway 62 in Joshua Tree, a stack of high school lockers holds something the High Desert was missing: a real New York-style bagel.

For that, you have DIY baker Richard Lee to thank.

“I want a bagel. What do I do?” Lee remembered thinking after moving to Twentynine Palms in 2023 from Los Angeles, where he had lived for more than a decade.

The Bagel Portal off Highway 62 in Joshua Tree.

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Richard Lee

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It wasn’t just any bagel the born-and-raised New Yorker was craving, but the kind from back home that gives “a little crunch” when you bite into its crust — with a “chewy, softer” inside and a taste Lee calls “ineffable.”

“Like maybe a sourdough or an Italian bread,” he said.

Taught by YouTube, tested by family in New York

Richard Lee converted his garage in 29 Palms to make bagels.

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Courtesy 29 Loaves

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A tinkerer by nature, Lee launched 29 Loaves in early 2024, bringing bagels he handcrafts in his licensed home operation to Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree and surrounding communities.

“I went to the culinary school of YouTube,” he said, having watched more than 100 videos on how to make a bagel. At first, he relied on his own taste buds as a guide, before sending his creations to his family in New York to taste.

After months of overnight shipping, Lee said, “Even a UPS store is asking me, ‘Why are you doing that?’”

“I know it makes no sense,” he told them. “That's how I operate.”

29 Loaves serves up New York-style bagels to Joshua Tree and other desert communities.

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Courtesy 29 Loaves

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Eventually, his sister gave the thumbs-up. To be extra, extra, extra sure, Lee went to folks living in the desert with New York ties to get their blessing.

“Attention is an ingredient,” Lee said of his bagels. It’s a philosophy he’s honed while running his other business providing IT services, which he now operates remotely.

“Garbage in, garbage out,” he said. “If you make a mistake or something falls on the bagel and marks it, it’ll end up that way as a finished product.”

Why bagels mean so much to him

Lee, whose father is Korean and mother is Brazilian, said his bakery is ultimately about food memories — and draws inspiration from what he ate growing up. The only other baked good 29 Loaves sells is pão de queijo, a gluten-free Brazilian cheese puff he makes.

Richard Lee handmakes New York-style bagels at his home operation.

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Courtesy 29 Loaves

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But nothing rivals bagels. Sundays were often bagel days in his childhood home in the Long Island suburbs. As a teenager working for his father, Lee remembered they would make detours off the Long Island Expressway to grab fresh bagels.

“They were nice and plump, and they were so hot,” he said.

Father and son would eat them straight out of the bag — no cream cheese, no nothing.

“Those were the types of memories that I wanna bring here,” Lee said.