WA AG Nick Brown backs legal challenge to DHS immigration arrest practices

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general supporting a legal challenge to the Department of Homeland Security’s use of warrantless civil immigration arrests.

The coalition filed an amicus brief Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing that federal immigration agents routinely make arrests without meeting requirements established by federal law.

Immigration officers making civil arrests without warrants must have probable cause to believe a person is unlawfully present in the United States and likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The coalition alleges agents routinely fail to determine whether the person poses an escape risk.

“The Bill of Rights protects the public from unlawful search and seizure, but the administration treats our constitutional protections as optional rather than bedrock requirements,” Brown said. “Checks and balances are essential if we want a country that is both governed and policed fairly.”

Coalition alleges warrantless immigration arrests harm communities

The brief supports litigation in Escobar-Molina v. DHS, which challenges the department’s policies and practices involving warrantless civil immigration arrests in the District of Columbia.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia partially granted a motion for a preliminary injunction in the case on Dec. 2, 2025.

The coalition’s filing describes what it said are widespread consequences of aggressive immigration enforcement, including disruptions to public health, education, safety and local economies.

In Washington, Brown’s office said enforcement tactics have kept students out of school, disrupted agricultural work and discouraged people from seeking medical care. The office also said those practices have hindered access to courts, libraries and grocery stores.

The coalition argued that enforcement activities have weakened families’ financial stability and damaged relationships between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.

Federal agents’ use of ski masks, dark sunglasses, plainclothes, and unmarked vehicles has contributed to fear and uncertainty, according to Brown’s office. It also cited agents’ refusals to identify themselves during enforcement operations.

The brief asked the appeals court to consider those community harms as it reviews the challenge to the department’s arrest practices. Washington is supporting the litigation alongside attorneys general representing states across the country and the District of Columbia.

Joining Brown are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

The filing supports the challenge; it does not itself establish the coalition’s allegations.

Manda Factor is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. Follow Manda on X and email her here. 

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