Escobar Molina v. Department of Homeland Security, No. 1:25-cv-03417, is a proposed class action challenging immigration enforcement in Washington, D.C. On September 25, 2025, four Washington, D.C. community members and the national immigration organization CASA sued the Trump administration to end its policy and practice of making immigration arrests in D.C. without a warrant and without probable cause. The plaintiffs are represented by the National Immigration Project, American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, American Civil Liberties Union, Amica Center for Immigrants’ Rights, CASA, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and the law firm of Covington & Burling.
The law only allows warrantless immigration arrests when the agent has probable cause both that a person is in the United States in violation of the law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. But in mid-August 2025, according to the lawsuit, the administration adopted a policy and practice of making immigration arrests without a warrant and without an individualized determination of probable cause that the person is in the country unlawfully and that the person is a flight risk, in violation of statutes and regulations. Each plaintiff in the case was arrested, detained, and released.