Judge limits ICE warrantless arrests after ACLU lawsuit in Colorado

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Colorado Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents can only arrest illegal immigrants without a warrant if the targets are likely to flee.

The order from Senior U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson follows a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and other attorneys on behalf of four people, including asylum seekers, who were arrested by ICE without a warrant earlier this year as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The lawsuit accuses immigration agents of indiscriminately arresting Latinos to meet the Trump administration’s immigration goals, without evaluating the conditions required to legally detain them.

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Federal agents fanned out across an apartment complex during a raid in east Denver. (PA)

The judge said each of the plaintiffs had long-standing ties to their community and no reasonable officer could have believed they were likely to flee before obtaining a warrant.

Under federal law, immigration agents must have probable cause to believe a person is in the country illegally and likely to flee before a warrant can be obtained, so they can arrest them without having one, Jackson said.

Immigration officers are also required to document the reasons for a person’s arrest.

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The judge said the plaintiffs had long-standing ties to their communities and no reasonable officer could have believed they were likely to flee before obtaining a warrant. (Getty Images)

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin called Jackson’s decision an “activist decision” and said the department followed the law.

“Allegations that DHS law enforcement engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless and categorically false,” she said in a statement.

Jackson’s ruling is similar to a separate decision issued earlier this year in a case brought by the ACLU in California regarding arrests by immigration agents. The federal government appealed this decision.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin called the judge’s decision an “activist decision.” (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Another judge barred immigration agents from targeting people solely based on factors such as their race, language, employment or location, after finding that agents were conducting indiscriminate checks. The Supreme Court lifted the ban order in the case in September.

“The Supreme Court has recently ruled in favor of us on this issue elsewhere, and we hope to see further vindication in this case as well,” McLaughlin said, suggesting the administration would appeal Jackson’s decision.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.