FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Linda Paris, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, 202-308-5186, [email protected]
DHS is in Defiance of Federal Judge’s Order to Stop Unlawful Warrantless Immigration Arrests in the Nation’s Capital, According to New Court Filing
February 19, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the past six weeks, attorneys representing a class of D.C. residents attempted to resolve the government’s “substantial noncompliance” with a federal court order regarding warrantless immigration arrests in the nation’s capital, according to a February filing.
“The evidence shows that the government is continuing its unlawful policy in defiance of the Court’s order,” says Ryan Downer, Legal Director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee and part of the legal team. “Our community isn’t safe if federal agents act like they’re above the law. We’re taking them back to court.”
In yesterday’s Motion to Enforce Preliminary Injunction, attorneys requested that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia enforce its December 2, 2025 ruling, which prohibited the federal government defendants and their agents “from enforcing their policy or practice of making warrantless civil immigration arrests in the District of Columbia without a pre-arrest individualized determination by the arresting agent of probable cause that the person being arrested is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained…” Plaintiffs asked the court to order training for federal agents conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests and to provide additional documentation of such arrests, including releasing body-worn camera footage where available.
The lawsuit, Escobar Molina et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al., was originally filed in September 2025. Four D.C. community members and the national immigration organization CASA sued the federal government to end its policy and practice of making immigration arrests in D.C. without a warrant and without probable cause.
The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, the American Civil Liberties Union, Amica Center for Immigrants’ Rights, CASA, National Immigration Project, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and the law firm of Covington & Burling.
Motion to Enforce Preliminary Injunction filed in this case, Escobar Molina et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al., is available here.