This Judge Just Slapped a Major Court Order on Border Patrol

Jeff Charles | April 30, 2025 12:30 PM

A federal judge in California on Monday issued an order prohibiting Border Patrol from arresting illegal immigrants without a warrant or a reason to believe a suspect might flee before officers can obtain a warrant.

NBC Los Angeles reported that agents cannot detain individuals unless they have reasonable suspicion. They also cannot deport them using “voluntary departure” without informing them of their rights before they agree to leave.

The ruling only applies to people within the court’s Eastern District of California, Thurston said, where dozens of people were swept up in January after the Border Patrol launched an immigration enforcement action dubbed “Operation Return to Sender.”
The American Civil Liberties Union sued Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Border Patrol officials on behalf of the labor union United Farm Workers and people who were targeted during the Border Patrol raids.
The ACLU said border patrol agents spent nearly a week unconstitutionally detaining people who “appeared to be farmworkers or day laborers, regardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances.” The detainees were bussed to the border, held without any way to contact family or attorneys, and coerced into signing papers that said they had waived their right to see an immigration judge and voluntarily agreed to leave the country, the ACLU said.
“The evidence before the Court is that Border Patrol agents under DHS authority engaged in conduct that violated well-established constitutional rights,” Thurston wrote. She said the Border Patrol would have to provide a report showing exactly who is detained or arrested without warrants, and why, every 60 days until the lawsuit is concluded.

Elizabeth Strater, vice president of United Farm Workers, told Cal Matters that “it’s pretty clear that half of a century of really established law is being upheld. It’s unfortunate that this is a cause for celebration. It’s not legal to snatch people off the street for looking like farm workers or day laborers.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta also chimed in.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta agreed. “That’s existing law, and the judge’s order reflects existing law.”
“You can’t just indiscriminately stop people and search them without any appropriate reasonable suspicion or probable cause or without a warrant,” Bonta said at a news conference in San Diego on Monday about conditions in ICE detention. “So, it sounds like the judge had seen enough and wanted to issue an order. “

The government’s attorney pushed back on the judge's order that Border Patrol provide reports for each time agents detain a migrant, arguing that it would impose an undue burden on agents. “They have to make a report for every arrest, not sure what the burden is,” Judge Thurston countered.