A federal judge in Columbus is hearing evidence to determine whether or not to order a preliminary injunction to stop federal immigration enforcement agents from making warrantless arrests in Ohio.
Chief Judge Sarah D. Morrison of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus began hearing testimony on June 3 in a hearing that is expected to last three days.
The request for the order is part of a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU Ohio on behalf of people who contend they have been arrested by immigration enforcement without a valid warrant or an individualized determination of probable cause. The lawsuit names as defendants Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE], U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Morrison heard testimony on June 3 from three people who relayed their accounts of being detained by immigration officials while going about their daily lives.
None of the three had any significant or violent criminal history.
All three described being stopped or pulled over in a vehicle by people in an unmarked vehicle. All three testified they were not shown any paperwork or provided information about why they were being arrested.
One of the three people who testified, a woman who was born in Peru and came to America on a visa in 2014, said she was trying to park at Easton Town Center to go to her job when a pickup truck pulled in front of her and blocked her path.
She said two men got out of the truck and ordered her to open the door. When she opened the door, the men immediately handcuffed her, she testified, before placing her in the truck and taking her to a second parking lot where there were other detainees.
One of the two men who testified, a man who legally entered the country in 2022 on a visa that has since expired, said he felt kidnapped.
“I felt devastated, finished inside,” he said about being arrested.
Two of the three people testified they were ultimately taken to a detention facility in Michigan, where they were held for several weeks before being released on bond ordered by a federal judge.
All three described changing their daily routines because of their fear of being re-arrested.
Attorneys for the immigrants who filed the lawsuit also questioned Steven Vorholt, a watch commander with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection based in Port Clinton, who said agents are told they must arrest every person who is determined to be in the country illegally.
“We do not have discretion to not arrest after making that determination,” Vorholt said.
Federal law requires two factors to be met for an immigration arrest, according to testimony: probable cause to believe someone committed a violation and an escape risk analysis. Because anyone who is stopped by immigration enforcement is not likely to stay in the same place, like a parking lot, while agents go to get a warrant, they are all seen as a likely flight risk, Vorholt testified.
Vorholt was asked about forms filled out by agents after several arrests that indicated the warrants for their arrests were issued hours after the individuals had been taken into custody. One of the forms showed the warrant had been served and electronically signed 12 minutes before it was time-stamped as being issued.
Vorholt said he couldn’t explain the discrepancy or what had happened, but at face value acknowledged it appeared to be a warrantless arrest.
It is unclear when Morrison will make a decision on the request for an order relating to arrest procedures.
Morrison was nominated to the court in April 2018 by President Donald Trump after she was recommended by Ohio’s then-U.S. Senators, Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown, and a Bipartisan Judicial Advisory Commission. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2019.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Federal judge hearing testimony on warrantless ICE immigration arrests in Ohio
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
