ICE can't make warrantless arrests in Oregon unless there's risk of escape, judge rules

"U.S. immigration agents in Oregon must stop arresting people without warrants unless there's a likelihood of escape, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a preliminary injunction in a proposed class-action lawsuit targeting the Department of Homeland Security's practice of arresting immigrants they happen to come across while conducting ramped-up enforcement operations which critics have described as "arrest first, justify later.""

"In a memo last week, Todd Lyons, the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, emphasized that agents should not make an arrest without an administrative arrest warrant issued by a supervisor unless they develop probable cause to believe that the person is in the U.S. illegally and likely to escape from the scene before a warrant can be obtained. But the judge heard evidence that agents in Oregon have arrested people in immigration sweeps without such warrants or determining escape was likely."

A federal judge in Oregon issued a preliminary injunction preventing U.S. immigration agents from making warrantless arrests unless there is a likelihood of escape. The injunction responds to intensified enforcement operations in which agents allegedly arrest immigrants they encounter without obtaining warrants. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment. Similar rulings have been issued in other jurisdictions and the government has appealed. ICE leadership issued guidance advising use of administrative arrest warrants or documented probable cause and flight risk. Court testimony included a plaintiff detained despite a valid work permit and a pending visa application.

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