A federal judge in Los Angeles just ruled that immigration agents have likely been breaking the law. For months, Border Patrol and ICE agents swept through car washes, parking lots, and other workplaces, detaining people first and asking questions later — without ever checking whether the person was actually a flight risk, a step the law requires before a warrantless arrest.

The human cost of skipping that step is real. Bodycam footage showed a car wash worker handcuffed and driven to an ICE facility, only to be released hours later once agents realized he was a lawful permanent resident. In another case, an agent's own written narrative claimed a worker showed "flight from law enforcement" — but the video showed him standing in the same spot the entire time, according to the court record.

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong found "an ongoing policy and practice of conducting warrantless arrests in violation of the requirement to conduct a likelihood-of-escape analysis." She has now ordered agents to document the specific facts behind any flight-risk finding before making an arrest — but the Department of Homeland Security is pushing back, and enforcement of rulings like this one depends on public pressure to hold.

This isn't about anyone's immigration status. It's about whether federal agents follow the Constitution before putting someone in handcuffs. Citizen, green card holder, or otherwise — everyone deserves due process before their freedom is taken away.

Sign this petition to demand ICE and Border Patrol fully comply with the court's order and stop arresting people before verifying they pose any real flight risk.