Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown on Monday joined a coalition of attorneys general across the U.S. to support litigation challenging federal policy and practice of conducting unlawful warrantless civil immigration arrests.
According to federal law, immigration agents conducting these kinds of arrests must have probable cause to believe that the person is unlawfully living in the U.S., and that they will likely flee, before agents can get a warrant from a judge.
But, the attorney general’s office said in a statement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents regularly make these kinds of warrantless arrests without first determining whether the person is likely to flee. These practices have caused and continue to cause widespread harm across communities.
Since last year, agents have visibly ramped up immigration enforcement activities. These activities have disrupted communities, and undermined important sectors of community life, including public health, education, and local economies. The attorney general’s office highlighted that the state “has seen these harms firsthand. … Federal agents’ use of ski masks, dark sunglasses, plainclothes, and unmarked vehicles, and refusals to identify themselves while carrying out operations have further contributed to fear and uncertainty in affected communities.”
“The Bill of Rights protects the public from unlawful search and seizure, but the administration treats our constitutional protections as optional rather than bedrock requirements,” Brown said in the statement. “Checks and balances are essential if we want a country that is both governed and policed fairly.”
The brief was filed in the case of Escobar-Molina v. DHS, which challenges DHS’s policy and practice of conducting unlawful warrantless civil immigration arrests in the District of Columbia. In December, a D.C. district court judge granted in part a motion for a preliminary injunction.
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