A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that border patrol agents can continue raids in California.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction imposed by a Biden-appointed judge last year that blocked federal agents from detaining people without ‘reasonable suspicion.’

Federal agents conducted sweeping immigration raids at California farms last year that sparked a fierce legal battle.

Courthouse News reported:

A Ninth Circuit panel dealt a setback to an agricultural workers’ union on Monday after it lifted a preliminary injunction prohibiting Border Patrol agents from detaining people without reasonable suspicion they violated immigration laws.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston, a Joe Biden appointee, imposed the preliminary injunction in April 2025. But the Department of Homeland Security, arguing the United Farm Workers of America didn’t have standing to pursue its class action challenging sweeps in California’s Central Valley to detain and arrest farm workers in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.

Siding with the government, the three-judge panel determined in their 4-page-ruling “the district court considered only plaintiffs’ allegations of past harm. Although past harm may support standing to seek damages, it does not, on its own, establish standing to seek prospective injunctive relief.”

The United Farm Workers also needed to show impending future injury for a preliminary injunction, the panel ruled, finding no traction to the union’s claims during oral arguments that the department’s practice of routinely violating its clients’ Fourth Amendment rights was evidence of future injury.