WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from continuing to arrest immigrants in Washington, D.C., without a warrant or probable cause, according to a release from the ACLU.
Included in the press release was an explanation that “agents can arrest someone without a warrant only when they’ve established probable cause that the person is in the United States in violation of the law and they are a flight risk.”
According to the ACLU, the ruling stems from the ongoing case of Escobar-Molina et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al. The case was initiated by four residents of Washington, D.C., who had been “indiscriminately arrested without a warrant, detained, and ultimately released.”
The ACLU reported that the lawsuit was filed in conjunction with CASA, a national organization founded to defend immigrant rights. The lawsuit was brought by the plaintiffs “on behalf of themselves and a class of similarly situated individuals, alleging that the federal government has engaged in a pattern of unlawful immigration arrests since August.”
The ACLU also connected the ruling to the death of a CASA member named Elias, who died after being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and missing a dialysis appointment. The press release stated, “Denied the care he needed, his health collapsed rapidly. His family says that missing that single treatment set off the decline that led to his preventable and tragic death in late November.”
The press release quoted Ama Frimpong, legal director of CASA, who said, “We are heartbroken and outraged by the loss of Elias. What happened to him was not an accident. It was the direct result of an immigration system that treats our community as disposable.”
The ACLU also quoted a joint statement from the plaintiffs and their representatives, who said in response to the injunction, “As we celebrate this temporary relief, we will continue to do everything we can to protect our communities from unjust, unconstitutional, and inhumane practices.”
Included in the press release was the court order, in which the federal judge stipulated that “If the plaintiffs have a reasonable basis to believe that the defendants are in substantial noncompliance with one or more provisions of this order, the plaintiffs shall notify defendants in writing of the specific alleged compliance issue …” and that “within seven days of the plaintiff’s response, the parties shall meet and confer. If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute … plaintiffs may seek intervention from the court ….”
The order concludes by stating that it “shall remain in effect until further order of the court.”
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