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

Find out more about the case here