U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (USDA Photo by Ken Hammond)
Special to United Methodist Insight | Sept. 11, 2025
Key Points:
- The U.S. Supreme Court stayed a federal district court order limiting certain immigration stops in Los Angeles, with the concurrence stressing a totality-of-circumstances standard where ethnicity alone cannot justify a stop.
- Practically, field stops may increase during litigation, heightening anxiety among immigrant neighbors and forcing churches to navigate the tension between enforcement and civil-liberties concerns.
- United Methodist theology and Social Principles call us to do no harm, do good, welcome the stranger, and honor the dignity of work through intercultural competence and non-stigmatizing hospitality.
- Immediate responses include pastoral care and accompaniment, clear teaching on lawful standards vs. profiling, trauma-informed ministry at targeted worksites with language access, and prudent communications.
What happened?
On Sept. 8, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed (paused) a district court order that had limited certain immigration stops around Los Angeles in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, No. 25A169, 606 U.S. ___ (2025).
Who are the parties? In the trial court, the plaintiffs are a group of Latino immigrant workers (the lead name in the caption is Vasquez Perdomo) and allied community members who challenged federal field operations in the L.A. area. They sued the United States and federal immigration officials (DHS/CBP/ICE leadership) in their official capacities.
Because the Government lost in the district court, it became the applicant/petitioner at the Supreme Court seeking a stay; the workers became the respondents at that stage. Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence says (1) the plaintiffs likely lack standing for a broad, forward-looking injunction under City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, and (2) immigration officers may conduct brief investigative stops on reasonable suspicion (specific, articulable facts) considering the totality of the circumstances (the whole factual picture; no single factor—especially ethnicity); ethnicity alone can’t justify a stop and profiling (targeting primarily for race/ethnicity/language) is unlawful.
Justice Sotomayor’s dissent describes evidence of systematic, four-factor targeting (race/ethnicity, language, location, occupation) and would have denied emergency relief.
Why it matters for United Methodists.
Practically, the stay means immigration field stops may increase while the case continues. Churches that serve day-laborers, agricultural workers, and service-sector employees could see heightened anxiety among neighbors and congregants. The legal standard remains nuanced (totality-of-circumstances vs. profiling concerns), so congregations will need clarity, compassion, and wise procedures.
Scripture & Social Holiness.
Following Jesus means love of neighbor in concrete ways—especially when fear rises. Wesley’s “do no harm, do good” ethic presses us toward non-stigmatizing welcome and active mercy. Our Social Principles affirm the dignity of work and call for safe, just conditions for workers—concerns acutely felt by immigrant communities. Book of Discipline 2020/2024, Paragraph 161.
Connectional Inclusiveness.
The Discipline tasks annual-conference bodies (like Conference Commission on Religion and Race – CORR) with intercultural competency training and inclusion across the connection. This is not optional ethos but assigned work—especially relevant when language, ethnicity, and location are being treated as “factors” in public enforcement.
Truth-telling about the law.
Two things are simultaneously true: courts permit brief stops on reasonable suspicion under a “totality test” (United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873 (1975), United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266 (2002)), and ethnicity by itself cannot justify a stop. Churches can help people understand both truths and respond without panic—or denial.
What Your Local Church Can Do This Month
Pastoral care for immigrant neighbors. Host listening circles or prayer services; offer transportation or accompaniment for routine appointments; make sure your welcome ministries don’t “other” people (greeter training, multilingual signage, clear hospitality cues). This is classic Wesleyan “do good” in an anxious season. (See also your conference CORR resources for intercultural training.)
Equip leaders with the basics. Teach the difference between “reasonable-suspicion stops” (legal standard) and “prohibited profiling” (ethnicity alone). Share a simple explainer in church communications so rumors don’t run the day.
Strengthen ministries that touch targeted worksites. Car-wash meals, day-labor coffee, ESL, farm-worker support: keep serving, but add trauma-informed practices and safety awareness. The dissent’s record description names those sites explicitly; your presence there matters.
Center the dignity of work. Preach and teach the Social Principles’ vision of just conditions and fair treatment for workers. Tie it to prayer for “daily bread,” reminding the congregation that work is about families eating, learning, and flourishing.
Partner for intercultural competence. Ask your district superintendent and CORR for training; include language access (interpretation, translated materials). Build muscles for cross-cultural ministry now; it will bless your mission in every season.
Keep clear, lawful boundaries. Churches aren’t legal shelters and shouldn’t obstruct enforcement. But you can adopt confidentiality practices for benevolence files, train ushers to avoid gatekeeping based on accent or appearance, and ensure ministry access is not discriminatory so that every person can attend worship services and participate in church programs “without regard to race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition.” Book of Discipline 2020/2024, Paragraph 4.
Pray, preach, and persist. Fear isolates but the church is strong when it gathers as the body of Christ. Keep the means of grace central—Word, Table, prayer, fellowship—especially for families carrying extra risk.
Messaging and Guardrails (for pastors and leaders)
- Name the nuance. Ethnicity alone cannot justify a stop; the legal standard is totality of circumstances. Communicate that carefully to counter both fatalism, fake news, and false reassurance.
- Interim posture. This is a stay, not a final merits ruling; litigation continues. Avoid over-claiming what the Court “decided.”
- Humanize the headlines. The dissent’s description of raids at bus stops, parks, farms, and car washes explains why neighbors feel vulnerable. Let that shape your pastoral tone.
Bottom Line
In a tense legal moment, the church doesn’t flinch from truth or mercy. We tell the truth about the law (what is and isn’t permitted), and we practice mercy in congregational life (welcome, accompaniment, justice for workers). That’s United Methodist connectionalism at its best—Scripture-soaked, Wesleyan in spirit, disciplined by our Social Principles, and relentlessly neighbor-oriented—“to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8) and “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35).
The Rev. Dr. Luan-Vu “Lui” Tran Courtesy of Author
The Rev. Dr. Luan-Vu “Lui” Tran is assistant chancellor for church law of the California-Pacific Annual Conference. He served on the Judicial Council from 2016 to 2025 and is currently the senior pastor of Garden Grove United Methodist Church and assistant South District director in Cal-Pac. He is also the author of UMChurchLaw.com, a website designed to provide “church leaders with clear, practical, and theologically grounded resources on the law and polity of The United Methodist Church (UMC).”