The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center have filed a federal class action lawsuit on June 24 against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Philadelphia Field Office and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop them from unlawfully re-detaining people at check-ins.
The lawsuit references the Changed Circumstance Policy that has allowed immigrants who do not pose a danger to the community to remain out of custody during ongoing removal proceedings if they comply with their conditions of release.
The Philadelphia ICE Field Office had complied with this policy for decades, requiring officers to justify re-arrest and re-detention with an indication of new danger.
According to the ACLU, they suddenly abandoned this policy last year with no explanation. ICE officers are now re-detaining individuals at routine check-ins with no justification or reasoning, spreading fear and anxiety through immigrant communities.
The lawsuit is being brought in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of three immigrant community members who face the threat of re-detention without legal basis.
The ACLU PA views re-detaining people in this manner as contrary to the rights guaranteed in the Constitution, such as due process and unreasonable seizure.
Vanessa Stine, senior staff attorney of ACLU PA, said that “over 200 people” have been re-arrested by Philadelphia ICE despite no change in their circumstances.
“When the government releases a person from custody, there is an implicit promise that their liberty will be honored as long as they follow what is asked of them,” Stine said. “To let this continue fails to consider principles embodied in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of our Constitution and violates important protections for immigrants reflected in our laws.”
One plaintiff involved in the lawsuit came to the United States in 2023 and was released by immigration authorities after they determined he was not a risk.
“I came to America hoping for safety and opportunity, and I’ve given my all to build a life here,” said Plaintiff M.P.B. “Yet people like me, who followed everything that has been asked of them by the government are being re-detained by ICE. Knowing this, I live in daily fear.”
He is not alone.
Many are worried about their perceived status within their communities, if they are re-detained and lose everything they have worked towards.
“What is happening to people contradicts the longstanding idea that as long as people do what is asked of them after they are released, they are not put back in detention,” said M.P.B. “My wish is that this lawsuit will change that for me and the community.”
“Re-arresting people whom the government already found not to be dangerous is a callous and calculated decision to fill detention-center beds and the pockets of the private prison executives who profit off them,” said Anthony Enriquez, vice president of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at the Kennedy Human Rights Center in Washington D.C. “Arbitrary detention like this is a serious human rights abuse that U.S. laws prohibit.”
