UPDATE: ON FEBRUARY 8, 2022 THE FEDERAL COURT APPROVED THE FINAL SETTLEMENT IN THIS MATTER
In 2018, ICE conducted a series of raids in the Chicago area, started stopping and arresting and people for civil violations of U.S. Immigration laws without a warrant. The ACLU along with our co-counsel, the National Immigrant Justice Center and Winston & Strawn, LLP, our five individual clients, and our two organizational clients, ICIRR and OCAD, sued the Department of Homeland Security.
The lawsuit is on behalf of a class of people who are currently detained, or are detained in the future, based on an arrest without a warrant, for a civil violation of U.S. immigration laws, and the arrest occurred or occurs in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, or Kansas.
The settlement includes:
- ICE must issue a new nationwide policy regarding collateral arrests and vehicle stops which requires officers to have reasonable suspicion — based on specific, articulable facts — that a particular person inside the vehicle does not have legal status, and prohibits officers from telling drivers or vehicle occupants the purpose for a stop is related to any vehicle or traffic violation.
- The nationwide policy will also provide that officers may not arrest someone without a warrant without probable cause to believe that they are both unlawfully present and likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
- Nationwide, ICE must adopt or amend its training materials in compliance with the new policy and train all ICE officers.
- In Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, and Kansas, individuals arrested by ICE without a warrant may have individual recourse through the settlement, including immediate release from ICE detention.
Listen to our podcast episode: ICE Enforcement in Our Communities
Find out more about the groups fighting on behalf of immigrant communities:
National Immigrant Justice Center
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Organized Communities Against Deportation
Find out more about the settlement and fairness hearing here
