A federal judge on Wednesday barred the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from carrying out warrantless immigration arrests in Oregon without individualized assessments of flight risk, finding that federal agents likely violated the law through a pattern of unlawful arrests.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai granted a preliminary injunction in a proposed class-action lawsuit against DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the case moves forward.
The court concluded that agents routinely arrested people for alleged immigration violations without warrants and without determining whether they were likely to flee before a warrant could be obtained.
Kasubhai ordered the government to notify immigration officers, employees, agents, and contractors of the ruling and to document and regularly report any future warrantless arrests, including detailed, case-specific justifications.
DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press reported that Kasubhai was presented with evidence showing immigration agents in Oregon carried out enforcement operations in which people were arrested without warrants or individualized determinations that they were likely to flee.
During a daylong hearing, the court heard testimony from one of the plaintiffs, Victor Cruz Gamez, a 56-year-old grandfather who has lived in the United States for more than two decades.
JUDGE THREATENS CONTEMPT FOR ICE LEADER, ORDERS HIM TO APPEAR IN COURT
Cruz Gamez said he was taken into custody during a traffic stop last fall as he was driving home from work and held in immigration detention for three weeks despite having legal authorization to work and a pending visa application.
He said he presented his driver’s license and work permit but was still detained, taken to an ICE facility in Portland, and later transferred to an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington.
He was facing deportation when an attorney intervened and secured his release.
Cruz Gamez became emotional as he described the toll the arrest took on his family, telling the court through a Spanish interpreter that his wife and grandchildren were afraid to leave their home for weeks.
The AP reported that a lawyer for the federal government apologized to the 56-year-old for his treatment and its impact on his family.
“Due process calls for those who have great power to exercise great restraint,” Kasubhai said. “That is the bedrock of a democratic republic founded on this great constitution. I think we’re losing that.”
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