Breaking: Federal Court Blocks Unlawful Warrantless Immigration Arrests in Southern California

LOS ANGELES – A federal court granted a preliminary injunction in Vasquez Perdomo v. Mullin that blocks the Trump administration from continuing its unlawful practice of conducting warrantless arrests without first determining whether a person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The court also certified a class of individuals who, since June 6, 2025, have been or will be arrested by federal agents for alleged immigration violations, without a warrant, and without an individualized escape risk assessment.

“This ruling is one of the most important decisions to date in the community’s effort to end the federal government’s cruel and illegal practice of abducting people and separating them from their families,” said Mayra Joachin, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California. “By requiring immigration agents to follow the law’s requirement to make escape risk determinations before they can arrest someone without a warrant, this court order should put an end to hundreds–if not more–of unlawful arrests that continue throughout Southern California. We will closely monitor compliance with this court order, and expect the federal government to abide by it.”

In its order, the court found federal immigration agents are “regularly abstaining from conducting a likelihood of escape analysis at all.” Further, the court notes “plaintiffs have demonstrated that the policy is ongoing” and that the testimony by DHS’s own agents support the conclusion that it was due to this illegal warrantless arrest policy and not “isolated instances of agents going rogue.”

“⁨⁨The Trump administration jettisoned federal law in order to achieve its goal of mass deportation at any cost, disappearing Angeleno community members in a matter of moments as they go about their daily lives. Thanks in part to the sworn testimony of dozens of plaintiffs and class members who came forward to speak out about their unlawful arrests, the court rightfully recognized that DHS is violating the law as a matter of policy. We will continue fighting alongside our plaintiffs, workers and immigrant communities to ensure that everyone can go about their daily lives without fear of being arbitrarily stopped or arrested,⁩” said Lauren Michel Wilfong, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) staff attorney.

“Over a year ago, farm workers across Southern California endured weeks of horrific attacks targeting them because of the color of their skin. This decision reaffirms that these illegal, racist raids targeting working class people should have never happened,” said United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero. “This recognition is accompanied by important legal restraints on the Trump administration’s ability to terrorize California’s immigrant workers. From downtown Los Angeles to the fields of Oxnard and Coachella, this ruling will make every worker safer.”

Under federal law, immigration agents may make a warrantless civil immigration arrest only when they have probable cause to believe both that a person is undocumented and that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. In addition to stopping the unlawful practice of conducting warrantless arrests without first determining whether a person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained, the court orders the federal government to comply with the following conditions:

• immigration agents must consider totality of circumstances known to agent before making the arrest, including escape risk
• agents must stop relying on the escape risk standard or analytical approach set forth in the five-page memorandum from former acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, issued in January 2026, which illegally suggested that merely being undocumented was sufficient as a likelihood of escape
• Agents must document their analysis of escape risk when conducting warrantless arrests in the Central District.

“Every worker deserves to go to work with dignity and without fear of being unlawfully detained,” said Armando Gudino, executive director of the Los Angeles Worker Center Network. “No one should have their safety or basic rights threatened simply because of where they work, the language they speak or what they look like. This ruling is an important step toward restoring that fundamental sense of security for all workers, especially immigrant workers across our various communities.”

Evidence obtained in the case showed that of a sample of 113 arrest records produced by the government in discovery, nearly 80 percent either contained no escape-risk assessment at all or relied largely on boilerplate language. Immigration authorities confirmed in sworn testimony that their practice is not to arrest individuals without independently assessing their risk of escape. As a consequence, agents routinely fail to ask people about factors relevant to whether they can be arrested, including their jobs, families, homes and other community ties.

"Today, the community feels more protected with the court's order that DHS' warrantless arrests likely violate federal law. This gives them breathing room to go about their daily lives, providing for their families while continuing to demonstrate such incredible resilience in the face of the Trump administration's ongoing attacks. We know this is but one step in the pursuit of justice, but for today, we have prevailed,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), a plaintiff.

The lawsuit was originally brought by five individual Latino workers and three membership organizations—CHIRLA, LAWCN and UFW—as well as Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), a legal services provider.

“It’s an honor to stand with our plaintiffs and co-counsel who are leading the fight to end the government’s lawless campaign of immigration raids in the courts and on the streets,” said Annie Lai, director of the Immigrant and Racial Justice Solidarity Clinic at the UC Irvine School of Law. “That fight is as urgent as ever. Even as we celebrate this court order and the courage of all those who are willing to hold the government accountable, we know there is much hard work ahead.”

The plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU SoCal; Public Counsel; Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin; UC Irvine School of Law Immigrant and Racial Justice Solidarity Clinic; NDLON; Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP; ACLU Foundations of Northern California and San Diego & Imperial Counties; Hecker Fink LLP; Martinez Aguilasocho Law, Inc; CHIRLA and ImmDef. 

Read the order: https://www.aclusocal.org/app/uploads/2026/09/2026-09-02-738-Amended-Order-Granting-in-Part-Plaintiffs-Motion-for-Preliminary-Injunction-Re-Warantless-Arrests-and-Granting-Intervenors-Joinder.pdf