A Democrat-aligned federal judge has stepped in to block one of President Donald Trump’s key immigration-enforcement tools in the nation’s capital, issuing a sweeping injunction that bars federal agents from conducting warrantless immigration arrests unless they can prove an illegal alien is a flight risk.
Judge Beryl Howell, a Barack Obama appointee, is long known for rulings favorable to progressive advocacy groups.
The activist judge issued the late Tuesday order while sharply rebuking Trump’s crackdown.
“This case arises in the wake of a publicly declared emergency in our Nation’s Capital, explained by the current president, in part, to ensure that ‘[t]his city will no longer be a sanctuary for illegal alien criminals,’” Howell wrote, scolding Trump’s emphasis on restoring law and order.
She went further, attacking the administration’s rhetoric:
“Such repeated conjoined use by high-ranking officials of the words ‘criminal’ and ‘alien’ prompts the need for clarification of two fundamental facts in reviewing the two pending motions brought by individual immigrants and an immigrant-focused organization in this case.”
Howell’s Order Blocks DHS Arrests Without Warrants
According to Courthouse News, Howell ordered the Trump administration to halt what she called a pattern of warrantless arrests in D.C., declaring that the practice could endanger Americans abroad.
Howell concluded that while immigration officials have statutory authority to arrest without a warrant, their enforcement under Trump was “likely unlawful.”
Her ruling states:
“Defendants are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing their policy of conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests without probable cause to believe that the arrestee is likely to escape before an administrative warrant can be obtained.”
The 88-page opinion also certifies a class Howell labeled the “Unassisted Escape Risk Class,” covering all individuals arrested without a warrant and without a pre-arrest individualized assessment of probable cause since President Donald Trump declared his Aug. 11 “crime emergency” in D.C.
Second Obama Judge to Undercut the Administration’s Enforcement Efforts
Howell’s ruling marks the second time in recent weeks that an Obama-appointed judge has intervened to limit DHS’s immigration authority.
A judge in Colorado issued a similar order last month, signaling a coordinated wave of legal pushback from the bench as the administration tightens internal enforcement.
The decision comes as President Trump has halted all immigration and naturalization processes from 19 travel-ban countries and intensified federal action in Washington, D.C., after deploying National Guard units to crack down on violent crime and illegal alien offenders.
The ruling now raises significant questions about how DHS will carry out the president’s mandate inside sanctuary jurisdictions, especially in the nation’s capital, where the administration has vowed that lawlessness will no longer be tolerated.
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