US judge: Border officials violated her previous order on warrantless arrests

A federal judge in California said on Wednesday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had violated a previous order from her on warrantless arrests when they carried out an immigration sweep in a Home Depot parking lot in Sacramento.



U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, had issued an order in April last year barring federal agents from warrantless arrests without finding probable cause of a flight risk.



The judge said that border agents appeared to be in violation of her order when they carried out an immigration enforcement action in a Home Depot parking lot in Sacramento in July 2025, and ordered agents throughout the Eastern District of California to properly document reasons to make future stops.



President Donald Trump's administration has pursued an aggressive and hardline immigration crackdown which has been widely condemned by human rights groups as being in violation of due process and free speech rights.



"Congress requires Agents to consider whether, when making warrantless arrests, the noncitizen poses a flight risk or a danger to community if released. Rather than abide by Congress' mandate, Agents arrested everyone who could not establish citizenship," Thurston said in court records released on Wednesday.