About the court filing Abel Orozco is one of nine plaintiffs in the court action who have been subject to warrantless and often violent arrests in their neighborhoods or vehicles. Plaintiffs also include U.S. citizen Julio Noriega, who ICE officers detained for more than 10 hours in late January before releasing to the street in the middle of the night without documenting the arrest, and 12 people who were arrested without warrants or probable cause in a single incident at a restaurant in Liberty, Missouri. These arrests violate the Castañon Nava settlement, a 2022 agreement that requires ICE to issue a nationwide policy governing warrantless arrests and vehicle stops, and to train officers on its requirements. Under the policy, ICE must document the facts and circumstances surrounding a warrantless arrest or vehicle stop. People who are arrested in violation of the settlement in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, or Missouri, may be able to seek individual remedies including immediate release from detention. The motion to enforce asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to order the release, without bond, of Mr. Orozco and another plaintiff who remain unlawfully detained, as well as other remedial measures to ensure ICE officers and other agencies assigned to conduct immigration enforcement comply with the settlement in the future. Checking ICE's lawless actions The Orozco family’s experience, and the experiences of the other 21 plaintiffs, demonstrate that ICE has a pattern of engaging in violations of the law and U.S. Constitution. ICE, not cities or states with welcoming laws, deserve scrutiny and oversight for their reckless actions that place our communities in danger. Devastatingly, Congress’s vote last week to hand a blank check to ICE opens the door for more lawless conduct like the cases we documented. Based on the dozens of cases NIJC and our partners have screened from Chicago and throughout the Midwest, we condemn the administration’s claims that the people ICE is detaining with these illegal tactics pose any danger to our communities. Most are people who have built lives here over decades, have families, own businesses and, like most of us, were going about their lives trying to do their best when they became collateral damage of the Trump administration’s inhumane and illegal mass deportation agenda. NIJC and our partners continue to monitor for violations of the Castañon Nava settlement. Learn more about the settlement and report violations through NIJC’s website at immigrantjustice.org/NavaSettlement. Throughout this case, it has become overwhelmingly apparent that access to counsel is critical to upholding our communities’ due process rights and rule of law under the current administration. Thank you for all you do to support NIJC in defending our neighbors and our constitutional rights. Sincerely,
Mark Fleming
Associate Director of Litigation, National Immigrant Justice Center | 
