Attorney General Ford Joins State Coalition Urging Court to Halt Warrantless Arrests by ICE
Carson City, NV – Today, Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced he has filed an amicus brief urging a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court order requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to comply with statutory safeguards when making warrantless civil arrests.
“Under President Trump, ICE has continually violated the Constitution, federal laws and direct court orders,” said Attorney General Ford. “Federal law enforcement officers must act within the legal constraints that have been established by Congress and our courts to protect our rights against unlawful, warrantless detention. ICE's brazen and continued contravention of direct court orders must be stopped immediately. ICE can enforce federal law, so long as it also complies with law.”
As part of a coalition of 22 attorneys general, Attorney General Ford filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Ramirez Ovando v. Mullin. In the brief, the coalition argues that the preliminary injunction against ICE serves the public interest by requiring federal immigration officers to comply with existing legal guardrails. Federal law allows immigration officers to make an arrest without a warrant only when there is probable cause to believe a person is unlawfully present and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
A federal district court in Colorado issued the preliminary injunction after finding that ICE officers had made unlawful warrantless civil arrests without determining whether individuals were likely to escape before a warrant could be obtained. The court later found that ICE continued making arrests in violation of the injunction. Federal officials appealed the injunction to the Tenth Circuit.
The brief emphasizes the importance of the flight-risk requirement, which prevents federal agents from making warrantless arrests without an individualized determination that a person is likely to flee. The states argue that disregarding this safeguard creates widespread consequences, including reduced school attendance, disruptions to businesses and local economies, avoidance of medical care and diminished trust in law enforcement that can make victims and witnesses less likely to report crimes.
The coalition argues that the injunction does not interfere with lawful federal immigration enforcement. Instead, it requires immigration officers to operate within the limits Congress established and protects the public from the broader harms caused when federal agents act outside their lawful authority.
Attorney General Ford joined the coalition, which is co-led by the attorneys general of Colorado and California, alongside the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
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