Immigration enforcement guidance for warrantless arrests falls short, federal judge says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said Thursday that instructions received by immigration enforcement officers to make civil immigrant arrests without warrants do not meet probable cause standards and should not used as guidance.

In continuing a preliminary injunction she issued in December, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell in Washington, D.C., said that “when conducting civil immigration arrests without a warrant in this District, defendants shall not rely on the probable cause standard or analytical approach set forth in the five-page memorandum” from the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Among the issues, the judge wrote that the instructions failed to instruct officers to assess a person's connections to the community before concluding that person is a flight risk and therefore needs to be taken into custody immediately.

The action is the latest step in a lawsuit filed by four noncitizens and the nonprofit organization CASA in Washington in 2025 challenging their arrests during immigration sweeps by the federal agency, which were part of a law-enforcement surge ordered by President Donald Trump.

Howell approved another request by the plaintiffs seeking more records to help explain how the policy will be implemented, but she rejected some of their arguments and said the government had adhered to her preliminary injunction order on some issues.

The Department of Homeland Security responded to questions about Thursday's order in an email saying, “ICE has authority for lawful arrests."

“Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," the DHS email said. ”The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices.”

“We got what we were asking for essentially,” said Madeleine Gates, associate counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. The ruling "reaffirms that federal agents have to comply with the law. They do not get a pass in doing immigration enforcement.”

“This particular case is all about what happens at the outset, before the arrest is made,” she said.

This version corrects an earlier version that spelled Madeleine Gates incorrectly.

FILE - The Department of Homeland Security logo during a news conference in Washington, Feb. 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

LONDON (AP) — Partial results from local elections in England on Friday showed big losses for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s governing Labour Party and gains for the hard-right party Reform U.K.

The votes are being widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, elected less than two years ago.

Areas that counted their ballots overnight saw Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, win hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north such as Hartlepool.

The picture will change throughout Friday as results come in from the majority of local councils, including Labour strongholds like London. Votes will also be counted in contests for semiautonomous parliaments in Scotland and Wales.

A Labour rout could trigger moves by restive party lawmakers to oust a leader who led them to power in July 2024. Even if Starmer survives for now, many analysts doubt he will lead the party into the next national election, which must be held by 2029.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy cautioned the party not to topple the prime minister, saying “you don’t change the pilot during the flight.”

Britain's Reform Party leader Nigel Farage poses for photographers with his poll card at a polling station in Walton on the Naze, England, Thursday, May 7, 2026 before he casts his vote in the local elections.(AP Photo/Richard Pelham)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and wife Victoria arrive at a polling station in central London, Thursday, May 7, 2026 to cast their votes in the local elections.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)