FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2026
MEDIA CONTACT
Lilly Gonzalez, media@nipnlg.org
Maryland Immigrant Rights Coalition Sues ICE Over Warrantless 'Arrest First, Ask Questions Later' Policy
BALTIMORE, MD — Today, the National Immigration Project, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, ACLU of Maryland, and We Are CASA filed a federal lawsuit and a motion for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end the agency’s practice of conducting warrantless immigration arrests in Maryland. The case, Guzmán v. DHS, challenges ICE’s widespread policy of “arrest first, ask questions later” as a violation of the Fourth Amendment and federal statutes.
The preliminary injunction requested in the lawsuit would prohibit ICE from continuing this practice during the litigation. The case is co-counseled by the National Immigration Project, the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, and the ACLU of Maryland.
The lawsuit alleges that since January 2025, ICE has engaged in a pattern of unlawful arrests across Maryland without probable cause as required by law. The complaint details aggressive tactics, including unmarked vehicles tailing work trucks, violent stops where agents box in vehicles and smash windows, and arrests of everyone in the vicinity regardless of the intended target. The plaintiffs, which include We Are CASA and four individual Marylanders, including a U.S. Citizen, are seeking class-action status to achieve relief for all of Maryland.
“Over the past 21 months, plain-clothed, masked, armed, unidentified and untrained federal agents have terrorized Maryland communities from the Eastern Shore to Park Heights, all the way to Washington County. These agents have indiscriminately stalked neighborhoods, arresting community members whom they perceive to be Brown or Black immigrants without warrants and without probable cause. This is racial profiling,” said We Are CASA’s Legal Director Shana Khader. “This violence waged on working class Black, Latine, Afro-descendant, indigenous, and immigrant Marylanders must be stopped. This is illegal and is unacceptable. That is why We Are CASA along with Amica Center, ACLU of MD, and National Immigration Project took to the courts to defend the Constitutional rights of Marylanders under attack by this rogue and lawless agency that is ICE.”
The filing follows a significant victory for the coalition in December 2025, when they secured a preliminary injunction in Escobar Molina v. DHS that prohibited warrantless arrests without probable cause in Washington, D.C. The number of warrantless arrests in the District has since dropped sharply, yet they continue in Maryland. The Maryland lawsuit highlights the devastating impact of these arrests on families and communities, including the specific targeting of Haitian Marylanders in the wake of the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti.
Under federal law, for a warrantless immigration arrest to be lawful, an officer must have probable cause to believe the individual is in the country unlawfully and that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The lawsuit argues that ICE has failed to meet these requirements in the voluminous arrests made in Maryland since 2025, violating the Fourth Amendment and federal statute.
The lawsuit comes as Maryland is at the center of a national debate on immigration enforcement. The state is currently defending the Community Trust Act, a state law passed in 2026 that limits local police cooperation with ICE, against a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice in July 2026.
“As ICE roams Maryland’s streets looking for people to arrest to fill their quotas, our Brown and Black immigrant neighbors live in constant fear of being arbitrarily arrested, beaten, and shot by masked and armed agents,” said Austin Rose, Managing Attorney at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. “Federal courts in other states have already found that ICE’s ‘arrest first, ask questions later’ policy is blatantly unlawful, and now it’s time to put an end to it here in Maryland.”
“We proudly join our courageous partners in fighting to protect the rule of law and public safety here in Maryland, where ICE continues violently and illegally arresting community members on their way to work or school,” said Sonia Kumar, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Maryland. “These abuses of power threaten us all, not just the Black and Brown Marylanders most directly harmed by the government’s lawlessness. No government agency is above the law, and we will continue to fight for our people and this basic principle here in Maryland.”
“The Fourth Amendment doesn’t ask about your immigration status, and it never has,” said Yulie Landan, Staff Attorney at the National Immigration Project. “Before the government takes your freedom, it needs a reason that belongs to you specifically, not a hunch. ICE has said out loud that it only needs suspicion. Agents arrest people without knowing anything about them, sometimes not even a name. Everyone in Maryland is owed better, and this lawsuit seeks to hold ICE to the standard it’s been ignoring. For everyone it stops in this state, whatever their status.”
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The National Immigration Project is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members who believe that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and flourish. We litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those most impacted by the immigration and criminal systems are uplifted and supported. Learn more at nipnlg.org. Follow the National Immigration Project on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook, and Threads at @NIPNLG.
The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights provides unwavering legal defense and strategic litigation for immigrant children and adults facing detention and deportation. They fight for the rights, safety, and unity of immigrant communities, standing with those trapped in our nation’s fundamentally flawed immigration system.
The ACLU of Maryland is a non-partisan organization that advocates for Marylanders to exercise their rights. For over 90 years, we have defended the Constitution and democracy, empowering Marylanders to raise their voices and claim their power. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures, and communities to center racial justice, invest in Maryland communities, challenge government abuses, and defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Note: Moving forward, “CASA, Inc.” will be operating under the name “We Are CASA.” Thank you for updating accordingly. With more than 192,000 lifetime members across 46 states, We Are CASA is a national powerhouse organization building power and improving the quality of life in working-class Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descendant, Indigenous, and immigrant communities. We Are CASA creates change through a power-building model that blends human services, community organizing, and advocacy to serve the full spectrum of its members’ needs, dreams, and aspirations.