California
Judge restricts immigration arrests without a warrant
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge has issued an order blocking immigration officers from making warrantless arrests in Southern California unless they determine the person is likely to escape.
In a preliminary injunction granted Sept. 2 and unsealed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong said the government must consider the “totality of the circumstances known to the agent or officer” regarding a person’s likelihood of escape before making a civil immigration arrest without a warrant.
The lawsuit was filed last fall by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Public Counsel, and Los Angeles immigrant advocacy groups during an unprecedented surge of immigration enforcement in the region. The order applies in the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Frimpong also ordered the government to thoroughly document the probable cause that leads to an arrest before a warrant could be obtained. The mere fact that someone is in the country illegally is not enough to justify a warrantless arrest, she said in her order.
“Without this, Defendants cannot show that any arrest was proper,” Frimpong wrote. She denied the government’s request to stay or delay the order to give them time to appeal.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit also sought to block roving patrols making stops and arrests based solely on race, language and occupation, and to protect access to counsel rights for people in detention.
Frimpong previously issued a temporary restraining order to restrict these sweeping immigration operations, but it was lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court last September. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said apparent ethnicity could be a relevant factor for a stop if combined with other information.
The unsealed preliminary injunction on warrantless arrests was issued after a hearing Aug. 13 where Frimpong signaled in a tentative ruling she was inclined to side with the plaintiffs.
Federal judges in Portland, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and the Eastern District of California have already blocked similar warrantless arrest practices.
Plaintiffs argued in court documents that in many arrests they tracked in Southern California, no documentation was ever produced showing the arresting officers documented the likelihood of escape.
“There’s no statutory requirement to document,” said federal attorney Daniel Mummolo, adding that different arresting officers handle things differently.
He cited a memo issued in January 2026 by former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons that said officers could make an “on-the-spot” determination about likelihood of escape.
“You have not presented evidence of officers saying, ‘Yeah I didn’t write it down but I did do it,’ “ Frimpong said in response.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Laura Perry Stone said the memo requires officers to determine both that the person was likely to leave the location and is unlikely to be found at another identifiable location, such as their home or workplace.
In her order, Frimpong said that a “wealth of record evidence” including government directives, arrest narratives, agent depositions and video evidence showed the government’s current policy and practice was to conduct an escape risk assessment based solely on unlawful status or “false assertions,” or to not conduct one at all.
In one instance, the government claims that an individual was “running away” from immigration agents before being questioned. But a video of the arrest showed him walking at a normal pace and texting on his phone before the agent began questioning him, Frimpong wrote.
Minnesota
ICE officer charged in non-fatal shooting arrested by authorities
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal immigration officer charged with shooting and wounding a Venezuelan man in January and lying about the circumstances to investigators was to appear Thursday before a Minnesota judge after state authorities arrested him ahead of a separate hearing in federal court.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro faces state and federal charges stemming from the shooting of Julio Ceasar Sosa-Celis during a federal immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis area. Prosecutors say Castro falsely told investigators that he had been attacked with a broom and a shovel.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a social media post that it arrested Castro on Wednesday in downtown Minneapolis on an outstanding warrant charging him with assault and false reporting of a crime. The arrest followed a dispute between Minnesota authorities and Texas’ governor over Minnesota’s attempts to extradite Castro from his home state to face the state charges.
Castro remained jailed without bond in Hennepin County on Thursday awaiting an afternoon hearing in a state court.
Castro is also scheduled to appear Friday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on the separate federal case in which he is charged with making false statements to investigators regarding the same shooting.
Castro’s defense attorneys in the federal case have said he plans to plead not guilty. Daniel Gerdts, listed in court records as Castro’s defense attorney in the state case, did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment Thursday.
It’s the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during this year’s massive Operation Metro Surge, which brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to sweeping protests, arrests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.
In both the federal and state cases against Castro, prosecutors say he shot 24-year-old Sosa-Celis in the leg while firing through the front door of a Minneapolis home. They say Castro later falsely reported he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before firing his gun.
Minnesota authorities have battled with President Donald Trump’s administration over who should handle any charges against Castro. The Department of Homeland Security has called Minnesota’s prosecution of Castro “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” saying only federal authorities have jurisdiction.
Minnesota charged Castro months before his federal indictment. He was arrested in Texas in May on the Minnesota charges. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last month refused to sign an extradition warrant to hand him over to Minnesota authorities.
He was released in Texas and soon after was indicted on the federal charges. He then turned himself in to federal authorities and returned to Minnesota on his own.
Judge restricts immigration arrests without a warrant
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge has issued an order blocking immigration officers from making warrantless arrests in Southern California unless they determine the person is likely to escape.
In a preliminary injunction granted Sept. 2 and unsealed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong said the government must consider the “totality of the circumstances known to the agent or officer” regarding a person’s likelihood of escape before making a civil immigration arrest without a warrant.
The lawsuit was filed last fall by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Public Counsel, and Los Angeles immigrant advocacy groups during an unprecedented surge of immigration enforcement in the region. The order applies in the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Frimpong also ordered the government to thoroughly document the probable cause that leads to an arrest before a warrant could be obtained. The mere fact that someone is in the country illegally is not enough to justify a warrantless arrest, she said in her order.
“Without this, Defendants cannot show that any arrest was proper,” Frimpong wrote. She denied the government’s request to stay or delay the order to give them time to appeal.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit also sought to block roving patrols making stops and arrests based solely on race, language and occupation, and to protect access to counsel rights for people in detention.
Frimpong previously issued a temporary restraining order to restrict these sweeping immigration operations, but it was lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court last September. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said apparent ethnicity could be a relevant factor for a stop if combined with other information.
The unsealed preliminary injunction on warrantless arrests was issued after a hearing Aug. 13 where Frimpong signaled in a tentative ruling she was inclined to side with the plaintiffs.
Federal judges in Portland, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and the Eastern District of California have already blocked similar warrantless arrest practices.
Plaintiffs argued in court documents that in many arrests they tracked in Southern California, no documentation was ever produced showing the arresting officers documented the likelihood of escape.
“There’s no statutory requirement to document,” said federal attorney Daniel Mummolo, adding that different arresting officers handle things differently.
He cited a memo issued in January 2026 by former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons that said officers could make an “on-the-spot” determination about likelihood of escape.
“You have not presented evidence of officers saying, ‘Yeah I didn’t write it down but I did do it,’ “ Frimpong said in response.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Laura Perry Stone said the memo requires officers to determine both that the person was likely to leave the location and is unlikely to be found at another identifiable location, such as their home or workplace.
In her order, Frimpong said that a “wealth of record evidence” including government directives, arrest narratives, agent depositions and video evidence showed the government’s current policy and practice was to conduct an escape risk assessment based solely on unlawful status or “false assertions,” or to not conduct one at all.
In one instance, the government claims that an individual was “running away” from immigration agents before being questioned. But a video of the arrest showed him walking at a normal pace and texting on his phone before the agent began questioning him, Frimpong wrote.
Minnesota
ICE officer charged in non-fatal shooting arrested by authorities
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal immigration officer charged with shooting and wounding a Venezuelan man in January and lying about the circumstances to investigators was to appear Thursday before a Minnesota judge after state authorities arrested him ahead of a separate hearing in federal court.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro faces state and federal charges stemming from the shooting of Julio Ceasar Sosa-Celis during a federal immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis area. Prosecutors say Castro falsely told investigators that he had been attacked with a broom and a shovel.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a social media post that it arrested Castro on Wednesday in downtown Minneapolis on an outstanding warrant charging him with assault and false reporting of a crime. The arrest followed a dispute between Minnesota authorities and Texas’ governor over Minnesota’s attempts to extradite Castro from his home state to face the state charges.
Castro remained jailed without bond in Hennepin County on Thursday awaiting an afternoon hearing in a state court.
Castro is also scheduled to appear Friday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on the separate federal case in which he is charged with making false statements to investigators regarding the same shooting.
Castro’s defense attorneys in the federal case have said he plans to plead not guilty. Daniel Gerdts, listed in court records as Castro’s defense attorney in the state case, did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment Thursday.
It’s the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during this year’s massive Operation Metro Surge, which brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to sweeping protests, arrests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.
In both the federal and state cases against Castro, prosecutors say he shot 24-year-old Sosa-Celis in the leg while firing through the front door of a Minneapolis home. They say Castro later falsely reported he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before firing his gun.
Minnesota authorities have battled with President Donald Trump’s administration over who should handle any charges against Castro. The Department of Homeland Security has called Minnesota’s prosecution of Castro “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” saying only federal authorities have jurisdiction.
Minnesota charged Castro months before his federal indictment. He was arrested in Texas in May on the Minnesota charges. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last month refused to sign an extradition warrant to hand him over to Minnesota authorities.
He was released in Texas and soon after was indicted on the federal charges. He then turned himself in to federal authorities and returned to Minnesota on his own.
