California court limits ICE arrests without warrants
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A federal judge in California ruled that agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot arrest people without a warrant.
Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued the preliminary injunction in the case of Pedro Vasquez Perdomo et al. v. Markwayne Mullin et al, restricting ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Agents must now demonstrate a reasonable belief that a person will attempt to flee before making an arrest without a warrant, and they must document their justification on Form I-213. The ruling requires agents to assess several factors before an arrest, determining that unauthorized presence in the United States alone is not enough to justify detaining someone.
When agents do make a warrantless arrest, they must detail the specific facts supporting the risk of flight in the Form I-213, including both factors increasing and decreasing that risk, and apply this assessment individually to each person arrested in a single operation. The judge reached this decision after reviewing 871 arrest documents from 113 individuals, finding that 41 of those arrested lacked any mention of flight risk. The injunction applies to seven California counties.
Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Bárbara, and San Luis Obispo, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass praised the decision as an important protection for migrant communities.
