Immigration enforcement guidance for warrantless arrests falls short, federal judge says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said Thursday that instructions received by immigration enforcement officers to make civil immigrant arrests without warrants do not meet probable cause standards and should not used as guidance.

In continuing a preliminary injunction she issued in December, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell in Washington, D.C., said that “when conducting civil immigration arrests without a warrant in this District, defendants shall not rely on the probable cause standard or analytical approach set forth in the five-page memorandum” from the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Among the issues, the judge wrote that the instructions failed to instruct officers to assess a person’s connections to the community before concluding that person is a flight risk and therefore needs to be taken into custody immediately.

The action is the latest step in a lawsuit filed by four noncitizens and the nonprofit organization CASA in Washington in 2025 challenging their arrests during immigration sweeps by the federal agency, which were part of a law-enforcement surge ordered by President Donald Trump.

Howell approved another request by the plaintiffs seeking more records to help explain how the policy will be implemented, but she rejected some of their arguments and said the government had adhered to her preliminary injunction order on some issues.

The Department of Homeland Security responded to questions about Thursday’s order in an email saying, “ICE has authority for lawful arrests.”

“Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the DHS email said. ”The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices.”

“We got what we were asking for essentially,” said Madeline Gates, associate counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. The ruling “reaffirms that federal agents have to comply with the law. They do not get a pass in doing immigration enforcement.”

“This particular case is all about what happens at the outset, before the arrest is made,” she said.