A federal lawsuit filed in Brooklyn claims that immigration authorities have carried out widespread, unlawful street arrests across New York, targeting Latino residents through “suspicionless stops and warrantless arrests.”
The complaint says, “roving bands of masked and heavily‑armed federal agents… are indiscriminately stopping and arresting thousands of Black and brown people,” arguing that the campaign violates constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and racial discrimination.
Eight Latino New Yorkers and the Workers’ Center of Central New York are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Several say they were arrested while doing routine tasks, driving children to school, walking to work, pumping gas or entering their homes. They say that they remain at risk because of their ethnicity.
The suit seeks to block what it describes as a statewide pattern of racial profiling and unlawful arrests. It names the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Patrol, the Justice Department and multiple agency leaders as defendants.
News 12 reached out to DHS for a response to the suit and is waiting to hear back.