Justice Kavanaugh Faces Backlash After Try to Walk Back ‘Kavanaugh Stops’ Fails to Calm Critics
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is now defending his role in a controversial set of federal immigration enforcement practices even as critics say it’s too late to undo the damage. According to a Slate article by Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern, critics argue Kavanaugh’s recent clarification of his earlier language doesn’t reverse how his words have been used.
The practice, widely dubbed “Kavanaugh stops,” stems from a September 2025 Supreme Court concurrence in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo where Kavanaugh said a person’s “apparent ethnicity” could be a relevant factor in determining reasonable suspicion for immigration stops. Federal agents quickly seized on the opinion, leading to widespread interior stops and detentions of people perceived as Hispanic.
Immigration advocacy groups and lawyers contend the use of Kavanaugh’s writing enabled racial profiling and contributed to thousands of controversial detentions nationwide. Many legal challenges followed, with plaintiffs saying agents detained lawful residents and citizens without proper cause.
In late 2025, Kavanaugh added clarifying language in a separate Supreme Court order stating that officers “must not make interior immigration stops or arrests based on race or ethnicity,” a change some see as an attempt to walk back his earlier framing.
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“It’s not enough to clarify; the courts and executive agencies have already acted on what was written,” said a civil rights attorney familiar with ongoing litigation.
The significance lies in how Supreme Court language shapes enforcement: once a concurrence is cited as precedent, its effects ripple through law enforcement decisions and lower court rulings. Legal experts warn that mere clarifications may not convince courts or agencies to abandon the practice.
Next, several federal lawsuits challenging current interior immigration enforcement plans are expected to cite both the original concurrence and Kavanaugh’s recent language during upcoming hearings.
The debate over “Kavanaugh stops” is now a flashpoint in the broader fight over constitutional protections and immigration policy.
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