{"id":136125,"date":"2025-10-31T08:43:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/10\/31\/the-kavanaugh-stops-legacy-50-days-170-detained-citizens-zero-answers\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T08:43:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:43:37","slug":"the-kavanaugh-stops-legacy-50-days-170-detained-citizens-zero-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/10\/31\/the-kavanaugh-stops-legacy-50-days-170-detained-citizens-zero-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kavanaugh Stop\u2019s Legacy: 50 Days, 170+ Detained Citizens, Zero Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was just last month that Brett Kavanaugh gave his explanation for why it was\u00a0perfectly okay for Homeland Security goons to profile brown people<\/a>\u00a0and detain them based on nothing more than the color of their skin. While his cowardly colleagues in the majority on that shadow docket decision refused to explain their thinking, Kavanaugh actually wrote a concurrence that was so out of touch with reality as to be embarrassing. But at least it was an explanation.<\/p>\n

The key bit from him that has stood out is this:<\/p>\n

\n

Importantly, reasonable suspicion means only that immigration officers may briefly stop the individual and inquire about immigration status.<\/em>\u00a0If the person is a U. S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter<\/em><\/strong>. Only if the person is illegally in the United States may the stop lead to further immigration proceedings.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s this weird, privileged, out-of-touch statement that if ICE or CBP stop you for being brown, they\u2019ll let you go as soon as you show them that you\u2019re an American citizen. Of course, we knew at the time that wasn\u2019t true. Hell, there were details that Kavanaugh ignored in that very lawsuit, which Justice Sotomayor called out in her dissent. But literally in this very lawsuit was the documentation of how it wasn\u2019t so simple:<\/p>\n

\n

To give just one example,<\/em>\u00a0Plaintiff Jason Brian Gavidia is a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in East Los Angeles<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and identifies as Latino. On the afternoon of June 12, he stepped onto the sidewalk outside of a tow yard in Montebello, California, where he saw agents carrying handguns and military-style rifles. One agent ordered him to \u201cStop right there\u201d while another \u201cran towards [him].\u201d<\/em>\u00a0The agents repeatedly asked Gavidia whether he is American\u2014and they repeatedly ignored his answer: \u201cI am an American.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0The agents asked Gavidia what hospital he was born in\u2014and he explained that he did not know which hospital. \u201cThe agents forcefully pushed [Gavidia] up against the metal gated fence, put [his] hands behind [his] back, and twisted [his] arm.\u201d An agent asked again, \u201cWhat hospital were you born in?\u201d Gavidia again explained that he did not know which hospital and said \u201cEast L.A.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0He then told the agents he could show them his Real ID. The agents took Gavidia\u2019s ID and his phone and kept his phone for 20 minutes. They never returned his ID<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Drexel law professor\u00a0Anil Kalhan quickly dubbed<\/a>\u00a0these bullshit pretextual stops of US citizens as \u201cKavanaugh stops\u201d and the name has stuck.<\/p>\n

While there is an effort to\u00a0challenge these further in court<\/a>, for now the goon squad known as ICE is unleashed even more than usual. We now know that\u00a0there are at least 170 US citizens<\/a>\u00a0who have been held by immigration officials, and there are probably even more not yet accounted for.<\/p>\n

It feels like every day we hear about another few:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/embed\/did:plc:bz3idwc6jcvidvyb476l2cqk\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3m47aacheo22c?id=44700577306563627&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.techdirt.com%252F2025%252F10%252F29%252Fthe-kavanaugh-stops-legacy-50-days-170-detained-citizens-zero-answers%252F<\/p>\n

These Kavanaugh stops are a stain on the American concept of civil liberties and due process, and they should be a stain on Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s legacy. Legal journalist Chris Geidner just ran a piece on\u00a050 days of Kavanaugh stops<\/a>, and what a shameful moment this is of American bigotry.<\/p>\n

Geidner has directly submitted questions to Kavanaugh to see how he feels about all of these Kavanaugh stops that show his claim of \u201cbrief encounters\u201d with law enforcement were bullshit:<\/p>\n

\n

I asked Justice Kavanaugh on October 14, \u201cDo you have any comment on the ICE stop of Maria Greeley, a U.S. citizen, who was reportedly stopped, ziptied, and told she didn\u2019t \u2018look like\u2019 a \u2018Greeley\u2019 despite being a U.S. citizen?\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

On both occasions, I also asked Kavanaugh whether he still thinks he was correct when he wrote that these stops are \u201ctypically brief\u201d and that all of this is fine because \u201cindividuals may promptly go free after making clear to the immigration officers that they are U. S. citizens or otherwise legally in the United States.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, I asked Kavanaugh if he was aware of the \u201cKavanaugh stop\u201d terminology and whether he had any comment on it.<\/em><\/p>\n

[\u2026.]<\/em><\/p>\n

So, I asked Justice Kavanaugh on October 16, \u201cDo you have any comment on the Pro Publica report that found \u2018more than 50 Americans who were held after [immigration] agents questioned their citizenship\u2019 during 2025. \u2018They were almost all Latino,\u2019 per the report.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to the other questions previously raised, I also asked Kavanaugh whether \u201cthe possibility of after-the-fact \u2018excessive force\u2019 claims\u201d is \u201ca sufficient answer to this ongoing, regularly occurring problem?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Did you guess what happened? Of course you did!<\/p>\n

\n

I have not received a response from him or his chambers.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You can already see the horrific legacy that is forming around the concept of Kavanaugh stops. This is a legacy that doesn\u2019t go away easily. It\u2019s like\u00a0the Dred Scott decision<\/a>, the\u00a0Korematsu decision<\/a>, or\u00a0Buck v. Bell<\/a>. Supreme Court decisions that nearly everyone now looks back on in horror.<\/p>\n

These are all horrible, hateful decisions by out-of-touch bigots, who can\u2019t even fathom a world in which those less fortunate themselves even matter, and thus their rights and dignity are barely given a second thought.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court still has a chance to fix this, since Kavanaugh stops were only defined by Justice Kavanaugh in a shadow docket concurrence. While those other cases all took decades for everyone to realize how fucked up they were, this one we can see in real time what a stain it is for anyone who believes that America respects basic civil liberties like due process and concepts like probable cause.<\/p>\n

But, for now at least, that stain should stick to Brett Kavanaugh. He\u2019s justified this. He\u2019s insisted these kinds of stops are no big deal, even as there was evidence then, and even with more mounting evidence now, that immigration officials don\u2019t give a shit if you are an American citizen. If you\u2019re darker skinned, they can treat you like shit, lock you up, beat you up, ignore your protestations and even evidence of American citizenship.<\/p>\n

It is a deep, dark stain on America as a supposed land of freedom, and it should be tied up with Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s legacy forever.<\/p>\n

The Kavanaugh Stop\u2019s Legacy: 50 Days, 170+ Detained Citizens, Zero Answers<\/a><\/p>\n

More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Study: AI Models Trained On Clickbait Slop Result In AI \u2018Brain Rot,\u2019 \u2018Hostility\u2019<\/a>
As Social Media Restrictions Spread, Is The Internet Entering Its Victorian Era?<\/a>
Trump FCC Votes To Make It Easier For Your Broadband ISP To Rip You Off<\/a><\/p>\n

The post The Kavanaugh Stop\u2019s Legacy: 50 Days, 170+ Detained Citizens, Zero Answers<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

It was just last month that Brett Kavanaugh gave his explanation for why it was\u00a0perfectly okay for Homeland Security goons to profile brown people<\/a>\u00a0and detain them based on nothing more than the color of their skin. While his cowardly colleagues in the majority on that shadow docket decision refused to explain their thinking, Kavanaugh actually wrote a concurrence that was so out of touch with reality as to be embarrassing. But at least it was an explanation.<\/p>\n

The key bit from him that has stood out is this:<\/p>\n

\n

Importantly, reasonable suspicion means only that immigration officers may briefly stop the individual and inquire about immigration status.<\/em>\u00a0If the person is a U. S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter<\/em><\/strong>. Only if the person is illegally in the United States may the stop lead to further immigration proceedings.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s this weird, privileged, out-of-touch statement that if ICE or CBP stop you for being brown, they\u2019ll let you go as soon as you show them that you\u2019re an American citizen. Of course, we knew at the time that wasn\u2019t true. Hell, there were details that Kavanaugh ignored in that very lawsuit, which Justice Sotomayor called out in her dissent. But literally in this very lawsuit was the documentation of how it wasn\u2019t so simple:<\/p>\n

\n

To give just one example,<\/em>\u00a0Plaintiff Jason Brian Gavidia is a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in East Los Angeles<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and identifies as Latino. On the afternoon of June 12, he stepped onto the sidewalk outside of a tow yard in Montebello, California, where he saw agents carrying handguns and military-style rifles. One agent ordered him to \u201cStop right there\u201d while another \u201cran towards [him].\u201d<\/em>\u00a0The agents repeatedly asked Gavidia whether he is American\u2014and they repeatedly ignored his answer: \u201cI am an American.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0The agents asked Gavidia what hospital he was born in\u2014and he explained that he did not know which hospital. \u201cThe agents forcefully pushed [Gavidia] up against the metal gated fence, put [his] hands behind [his] back, and twisted [his] arm.\u201d An agent asked again, \u201cWhat hospital were you born in?\u201d Gavidia again explained that he did not know which hospital and said \u201cEast L.A.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0He then told the agents he could show them his Real ID. The agents took Gavidia\u2019s ID and his phone and kept his phone for 20 minutes. They never returned his ID<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Drexel law professor\u00a0Anil Kalhan quickly dubbed<\/a>\u00a0these bullshit pretextual stops of US citizens as \u201cKavanaugh stops\u201d and the name has stuck.<\/p>\n

While there is an effort to\u00a0challenge these further in court<\/a>, for now the goon squad known as ICE is unleashed even more than usual. We now know that\u00a0there are at least 170 US citizens<\/a>\u00a0who have been held by immigration officials, and there are probably even more not yet accounted for.<\/p>\n

It feels like every day we hear about another few:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/embed\/did:plc:bz3idwc6jcvidvyb476l2cqk\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3m47aacheo22c?id=44700577306563627&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.techdirt.com%252F2025%252F10%252F29%252Fthe-kavanaugh-stops-legacy-50-days-170-detained-citizens-zero-answers%252F<\/p>\n

These Kavanaugh stops are a stain on the American concept of civil liberties and due process, and they should be a stain on Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s legacy. Legal journalist Chris Geidner just ran a piece on\u00a050 days of Kavanaugh stops<\/a>, and what a shameful moment this is of American bigotry.<\/p>\n

Geidner has directly submitted questions to Kavanaugh to see how he feels about all of these Kavanaugh stops that show his claim of \u201cbrief encounters\u201d with law enforcement were bullshit:<\/p>\n

\n

I asked Justice Kavanaugh on October 14, \u201cDo you have any comment on the ICE stop of Maria Greeley, a U.S. citizen, who was reportedly stopped, ziptied, and told she didn\u2019t \u2018look like\u2019 a \u2018Greeley\u2019 despite being a U.S. citizen?\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

On both occasions, I also asked Kavanaugh whether he still thinks he was correct when he wrote that these stops are \u201ctypically brief\u201d and that all of this is fine because \u201cindividuals may promptly go free after making clear to the immigration officers that they are U. S. citizens or otherwise legally in the United States.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, I asked Kavanaugh if he was aware of the \u201cKavanaugh stop\u201d terminology and whether he had any comment on it.<\/em><\/p>\n

[\u2026.]<\/em><\/p>\n

So, I asked Justice Kavanaugh on October 16, \u201cDo you have any comment on the Pro Publica report that found \u2018more than 50 Americans who were held after [immigration] agents questioned their citizenship\u2019 during 2025. \u2018They were almost all Latino,\u2019 per the report.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to the other questions previously raised, I also asked Kavanaugh whether \u201cthe possibility of after-the-fact \u2018excessive force\u2019 claims\u201d is \u201ca sufficient answer to this ongoing, regularly occurring problem?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Did you guess what happened? Of course you did!<\/p>\n

\n

I have not received a response from him or his chambers.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You can already see the horrific legacy that is forming around the concept of Kavanaugh stops. This is a legacy that doesn\u2019t go away easily. It\u2019s like\u00a0the Dred Scott decision<\/a>, the\u00a0Korematsu decision<\/a>, or\u00a0Buck v. Bell<\/a>. Supreme Court decisions that nearly everyone now looks back on in horror.<\/p>\n

These are all horrible, hateful decisions by out-of-touch bigots, who can\u2019t even fathom a world in which those less fortunate themselves even matter, and thus their rights and dignity are barely given a second thought.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court still has a chance to fix this, since Kavanaugh stops were only defined by Justice Kavanaugh in a shadow docket concurrence. While those other cases all took decades for everyone to realize how fucked up they were, this one we can see in real time what a stain it is for anyone who believes that America respects basic civil liberties like due process and concepts like probable cause.<\/p>\n

But, for now at least, that stain should stick to Brett Kavanaugh. He\u2019s justified this. He\u2019s insisted these kinds of stops are no big deal, even as there was evidence then, and even with more mounting evidence now, that immigration officials don\u2019t give a shit if you are an American citizen. If you\u2019re darker skinned, they can treat you like shit, lock you up, beat you up, ignore your protestations and even evidence of American citizenship.<\/p>\n

It is a deep, dark stain on America as a supposed land of freedom, and it should be tied up with Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s legacy forever.<\/p>\n

The Kavanaugh Stop\u2019s Legacy: 50 Days, 170+ Detained Citizens, Zero Answers<\/a><\/p>\n

More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Study: AI Models Trained On Clickbait Slop Result In AI \u2018Brain Rot,\u2019 \u2018Hostility\u2019<\/a>
As Social Media Restrictions Spread, Is The Internet Entering Its Victorian Era?<\/a>
Trump FCC Votes To Make It Easier For Your Broadband ISP To Rip You Off<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was just last month that Brett Kavanaugh gave his explanation for why it was\u00a0perfectly okay for Homeland Security goons to profile brown people\u00a0and detain them based on nothing more than the color of their skin. While his cowardly colleagues in the majority on that shadow docket decision refused to explain their thinking, Kavanaugh actually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":136127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/brett-kavanaugh-hands-LAapzV.jpg?fit=1024%2C655&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}