Updated on: February 4, 2026 / 10:38 PM EST / CBS/AP
A federal judge has barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Oregon from making warrantless arrests unless they have reason to believe the person is likely to escape.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday in a proposed class-action lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s practice of arresting immigrants encountered during ramped-up enforcement operations — a tactic critics have called “arrest first, justify later.” The suit was brought by the nonprofit law firm Innovation Law Lab.
Kasubhai’s ruling follows similar injunctions in Colorado and Washington, D.C., where courts have limited the federal government’s ability to carry out warrantless arrests without first determining the arrestee poses a flight risk. A related lawsuit is pending in Minnesota. The government is appealing the Colorado and D.C. rulings.
Last week, acting ICE director Todd Lyons issued guidance saying agents should not arrest someone without an administrative arrest warrant issued by a supervisor unless they develop probable cause to believe the person is likely to escape from the scene. Lyons also broadened the situations agents may rely on when concluding that seeking a warrant would create an opportunity to flee.
But at Wednesday’s hearing, the court heard evidence that ICE agents in Oregon have made arrests during sweeps without obtaining warrants or establishing a likelihood of escape. Plaintiffs testified about several incidents, including Victor Cruz Gamez, a 56-year-old grandfather who said he has lived in the U.S. since 1999, held in immigration detention for three weeks despite a valid work permit and a pending visa application.
The hearing also included testimony from a person identified as M.A.M., who described video she recorded showing two armed agents bursting into a bedroom to search for someone who did not live there. The October raid footage circulated widely on social media and previously drew local news attention.
Kasubhai said plaintiffs were likely to prevail and found “ample evidence in this case that established a pattern of practice of executing warrantless arrests without sufficient evidence.” He criticized actions by agents in Oregon — including drawing guns on people detained for civil immigration violations — as “violent and brutal” and expressed concern about due process violations during immigration raids.
“I’m concerned, as a public servant, and as someone who has to, by virtue of my oath, to uphold the constitution, when I see actions and behavior on behalf of our executive branch that does not observe that same commitment,” the judge said. “Due process calls for those who have great power to exercise great restraint … That is the bedrock of a democratic republic founded on this great constitution. I think we’re losing that.”
Amanda Arden contributed to this report.
