Read the Ruling on Warrantless Arrests in Washington, D.C.

Case 1:25-cv-03417-BAH Document 68 Filed 12/02/25

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collection of data” from immigration experts and defendants’ own statements that they consider

deterrence as a factor).

The challenged decision originates from the top, coming to a head with the current administration’s August 11, 2025 declaration of an “emergency” in the District, see Exec. Order No. 14333, 90 Fed. Reg. 39301 (Aug. 11, 2025), which placed the District’s Metropolitan Police Department under “direct federal control” for a 30-day period and deployed 800 National Guard troops onto the city’s streets, Widas Decl., Ex. 20 (quoting the current president). 25 In that declaration of emergency, the president repeatedly referenced the topic of immigration, proclaiming that the federal government was going to put things “in control very quickly, like we did in the southern border,” id., Ex. 5,26 and promising that “[t]his city will no longer be a sanctuary for illegal alien criminals,” id., Ex. 6.27 A few days later, on August 15, 2025, defendant Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued an order directing the District’s Mayor to use local resources to assist with “enforcement of federal immigration law,” including with “locating, apprehending, and detaining aliens unlawfully present in the United States.” Id., Ex. 7. This enforcement push was further buttressed by an earlier directive from defendant Kristi Noem, the Secretary of DHS, granting to certain enumerated non-DHS federal agents the “authority to arrest and apprehend illegal aliens,” id., Ex. 829; as well as the imposition of rising quotas or, as defendants describe, nonbinding “goals,” Hr❜g Tr. 69:14-15, 18 (defendants’ counsel conceding White House officials made statements about rising “goals” for civil immigration arrests)—that quickly grew to 3,000

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25

Widas Decl., Ex. 20, ECF No. 17-1 at 107 (Kaia Hubbard, Trump deploys National Guard to D.C., takes control of local police in crime crackdown at 2, CBS News (Aug. 11, 2025), https://perma.cc/H7QT-ZPSS).

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26

Id., Ex. 5, ECF No. 17-1 at 34 (Michelle Stoddart et al., Trump puts DC police department under federal control, deploys National Guard at 1, ABC News (Aug. 12, 2025), https://perma.cc/4VZ6-UJL7).

27

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Id., Ex. 6, ECF No. 17-1 at 43 (DC Critics Slam Trump’s Crackdown at 3).
Id., Ex. 7, ECF No. 17-1 at 48 (Off. of Att’y Gen., Order No. 6372-2025, “Restoring Safety and Security to the District of Columbia” at 2 (Aug. 15, 2025), https://perma.cc/7NPP-U3EP).

29

Id., Ex. 8, ECF No. 17-1 at 50 (Statement from a DHS Spokesperson on Directive Expanding Immigration Law Enforcement to Some Department of Justice Officials at 1, DHS (Jan. 23, 2025), https://perma.cc/XW6H-ERZ6).

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