A new class-action lawsuit filed against federal officials accuses U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of carrying out widespread warrantless arrests across Maryland without first establishing that people are in the country unlawfully or likely to flee.
The 56-page lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland by immigrant advocacy organization We Are CASA and four Maryland residents identified only by their initials and counties of residence. The lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE, the U.S. Department of Justice and federal officials as defendants.
The lawsuit claims federal immigration agents have adopted an "arrest first, ask questions later" approach in Maryland, meaning they stop and arrest people without warrants and without making the individualized probable-cause assessments required for warrantless immigration arrests.
Under federal law, the lawsuit says, an immigration agent making a warrantless arrest must have probable cause to believe both that a person is in the United States unlawfully and that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
The lawsuit claims agents instead have targeted people they perceive to be Latino or other immigrants, often while driving unmarked vehicles through residential areas, parking lots and locations frequented by workers.
The four individual plaintiffs live in four different Maryland counties: Samuel Guzmán in Anne Arundel County, who represents We Are CASA; A.G.P. in Prince George's County; K.M. in Wicomico County; and J.M.R. in Montgomery County.
We Are CASA is based in Prince George's County.
The complaint describes alleged ICE encounters and enforcement activity in several other parts of Maryland, including Baltimore City and Howard, Queen Anne's and Talbot counties, and Hagerstown in Washington County.
Guzmán, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen born in Maryland, claims ICE agents arrested him outside a 7-Eleven in Annapolis in June. According to the complaint, Guzmán repeatedly told agents he was a U.S. citizen, and agents looked at his identification but still handcuffed him and took him to another parking lot. The lawsuit says he was released nearly two hours later.
Two other plaintiffs describe encounters in Silver Spring. J.M.R. claimed agents surrounded his vehicle in July, dragged him to the ground and used a Taser on him after he had already been handcuffed. He was taken to a hospital and then held in ICE custody for two weeks before a federal judge ordered his release.
According to A.G.P., ICE agents surrounded his vehicle while he was driving to work in Silver Spring in February and handcuffed him before asking his name or checking his identification. According to the complaint, he was detained for three months before a federal court ordered his release.
K.M., a Wicomico County resident, claimed six unmarked vehicles surrounded her car in Salisbury in January before agents arrested her without a warrant. She was released later that day with an ankle monitor, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit cites additional alleged warrantless arrests in Annapolis, Glen Burnie, Gaithersburg, Baltimore, Hyattsville, Mount Rainier and near Columbia. It also references recent ICE activity on Kent Island and in Easton, along with an ICE office in Howard County and a warehouse ICE purchased in Hagerstown.
The plaintiffs contend the cases are part of a broader pattern rather than isolated incidents. According to data cited in the lawsuit, ICE made nearly 7,000 "at-large" arrests in Maryland between Jan. 20, 2025, and Aug. 6, 2026, which the plaintiffs characterize as typically warrantless arrests.
The complaint seeks to establish two statewide classes covering people who have been or could be arrested for alleged immigration violations without a warrant and without an individualized assessment of their immigration status or risk of escape.
The lawsuit is asking the court to declare the practices unlawful, block federal immigration officials from continuing them and set aside the policies they contend allow the arrests.
The lawsuit also argues that the practices violate federal immigration law, federal regulations, the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Across Maryland Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.