US judge bars Border Patrol from some warrantless arrests of suspected undocumented residents

By REBECCA BOONE A federal judge in California has barred Confines Patrol agents from arresting someone suspected of living in the U S illegally unless they have a warrant or a reason to believe the person might flee before a warrant can be obtained Related Articles Senate confirms former Sen David Perdue as Trump s US ambassador to China amid tariff showdown Coca-Cola reports better-than-expected quarterly profit says it can manage through tariffs Hegseth boasts about ending woke effort on women and shield that Trump had signed into law GM posts strong Q results but will reassess expectations for due to auto tariffs Same candidate two parties A Wisconsin lawsuit aims to bring back fusion voting Tuesday s ruling from U S District Judge Jennifer L Thurston also says Edge Patrol agents can t stop people without having reasonable suspicion or return them to their countries of origin via voluntary departure unless that person is informed of their rights and agrees to leave The ruling only applies to people within the court s Eastern District of California Thurston noted where dozens of people were swept up in January after the Demarcation Patrol launched an immigration enforcement action dubbed Operation Return to Sender The American Civil Liberties Union sued Department of Homeland Safeguard Secretary Kristi Noem and U S Territory line Patrol agents on behalf of the labor union United Farm Workers and people who were targeted during the Dividing line Patrol raids The ACLU mentioned dividing line patrol agents spent nearly a week unconstitutionally detaining people who appeared to be farmworkers or day laborers regardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances The detainees were bussed to the perimeter held without any way to contact family or attorneys and coerced into signing papers that noted they had waived their right to see an immigration judge and voluntarily agreed to leave the country the ACLU explained FILE Dividing line Patrol agents wait for the arrival of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a visit to the US-Mexico perimeter in Sunland Park N M Feb AP Photo Andres Leighton FIle The evidence before the Court is that Perimeter Patrol agents under DHS authority engaged in conduct that violated well-established constitutional rights Thurston wrote She declared the Territory line Patrol would have to provide a account showing exactly who is detained or arrested without warrants and why every days until the lawsuit is concluded Attorneys for the Edge Patrol had argued the judge lacked jurisdiction to consider the affair because federal law says that immigration matters can generally only be appealed once an immigration judge has issued a final order Besides the executive s attorneys noted the lawsuit is moot because the U S Dividing line Patrol has already issued new guidance and training to its agents detailing exactly when people may be stopped or arrested without warrants and what rights detainees have after their arrest But Thurston explained the Territory line Patrol can t claim the lawsuit is moot purely because it issued a new plan after it was sued The language in the new program isn t strong enough to guard against the illegal stops Thurston commented and there is no reason to believe that the strategy wouldn t be changed again in the future