The Trump administration violated a court order from last year that strictly limited instances in which the government can make immigration arrests in the District of Columbia without a warrant, a federal judge found on Thursday.
In a 45-page opinion, Judge Beryl A. Howell wrote that the Department of Homeland Security has relied on guidance that advised immigration agents to make arrests without warrants in cases beyond what she had dictated in her December order.
The next month, Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, circulated a memo authorizing all ICE personnel they could immediately arrest individuals deemed “likely to escape” before a warrant could be obtained.
Judge Howell said that guidance was at odds with her order, which required agents to demonstrate a real belief that a suspect might flee and to take into account factors that might suggest they would not, including their ties to the community.
Judge Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, did not immediately impose any punishment on the government but again ordered compliance.
She said the agency’s continued implementation of that January guidance left her “no alternative but to prohibit reliance on the memorandum in its entirety” in Washington.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly after President Trump deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement agents into Washington last year, a coalition of immigration and civil rights groups filed suit on behalf of four local residents caught up in the sweeps. Judge Howell agreed last year with the residents that the Trump administration had ignored rules intended to prevent indiscriminate arrests as agents worked to meet quotas, particularly targeting people who appeared to be Latino.
In February, the groups returned to Judge Howell, arguing the Trump administration had made no effort to correct course or implement her order. Among other things, they claimed that agents had continued to detain people on account of their “flight risk,” even in cases where people had deep family and work ties to the area.
The groups involved, including the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C., the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and We Are CASA, lauded the decision on Thursday.
“Immigration agents continue to skip crucial safeguards before arresting D.C. residents for immigration violations,” said Madeleine Gates, an attorney with the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, who argued the case. “We’re pleased that the court has acted to protect our immigrant friends and neighbors in D.C.”
Judges in California, Illinois, Colorado and Oregon have come to similar conclusions about Trump administration detention policies and have also imposed limits on arrests without judicial warrants.
The Trump administration has maintained that it never formally changed arrest policy.
Mr. Lyons has described the guidance as a new interpretation of the “flight risk” standard. ICE had historically designated any individual who may not comply with future immigration obligations such as court hearings as at risk of fleeing. But under Mr. Lyons’ more expansive interpretation, the term could apply to anyone considered unlikely to remain at the scene where they were confronted by agents.
Because the agency has denied any formal policy change happened, the groups involved in the lawsuit told Judge Howell the government denied there was documentation related to it. They said they’ve received only 11 pages of materials from the government about the new practices. Judge Howell ordered the government to turn over more information about its tactics.
