Federal judge rules against DHS on warrantless immigration arrests in Oregon
A preliminary injunction was issued as the case moves forward
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A federal judge on Wednesday barred the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from carrying out warrantless immigration arrests in Oregon without individualized assessments of flight risk, finding that federal agents likely violated the law through a pattern of unlawful arrests.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai granted a preliminary injunction in a proposed class-action lawsuit against DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the case moves forward.
The court concluded that agents routinely arrested people for alleged immigration violations without warrants and without determining whether they were likely to flee before a warrant could be obtained.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kasubhai ordered the government to notify immigration officers, employees, agents and contractors of the ruling and to document and regularly report any future warrantless arrests, including detailed, case-specific justifications.
Federal agents detain a protester outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on Oct. 12, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty)
"Let’s drop the charade. This case isn’t really about arrest procedures or legal standards. At root, this case and all the others like it are about open-borders groups and activist judges doing everything in their power to stop the will of the American people and prevent the Trump administration from fulfilling the President’s mandate to deport the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement to Fox News Digital. "It won’t work. DHS conducts enforcement operations in line with the U.S. Constitution and all applicable federal laws without fear, favor, or prejudice and will continue to do so."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press reported that Kasubhai was presented with evidence showing immigration agents in Oregon carried out enforcement operations in which people were arrested without warrants or individualized determinations that they were likely to flee.
During a daylong hearing, the court heard testimony from one of the plaintiffs, Victor Cruz Gamez, a 56-year-old grandfather who has lived in the United States for more than two decades.
JUDGE THREATENS CONTEMPT FOR ICE LEADER, ORDERS HIM TO APPEAR IN COURT
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Law enforcement officers look out from an ICE facility on Oct. 21, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. (Jenny Kane/AP)
Cruz Gamez said he was taken into custody during a traffic stop last fall as he was driving home from work and held in immigration detention for three weeks despite having legal authorization to work and a pending visa application.
He said he presented his driver’s license and work permit but was still detained, taken to an ICE facility in Portland, and later transferred to an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington.
He was facing deportation when an attorney intervened and secured his release.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cruz Gamez became emotional as he described the toll the arrest took on his family, telling the court through a Spanish interpreter that his wife and grandchildren were afraid to leave their home for weeks.
Federal agents clash with protesters outside a downtown ICE facility on Oct. 4, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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The AP reported that a lawyer for the federal government apologized to the 56-year-old for his treatment and its impact on his family.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Due process calls for those who have great power to exercise great restraint," Kasubhai said. "That is the bedrock of a democratic republic founded on this great Constitution. I think we’re losing that."