Pro Bono In Action
Winston Wins Settlement to Curtail Racial Profiling, Raids and Warrantless Arrests by ICE
Pro Bono In Action
Winston Wins Settlement to Curtail Racial Profiling, Raids and Warrantless Arrests by ICE
December 20, 2021
Winston & Strawn has reached a settlement agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that curtails its use of illegal traffic stops and mass arrest practices nationwide.
In May 2018, Winston served as co-counsel in a federal class action lawsuit filed against ICE for relying on warrantless traffic stops and racial profiling to arrest and detain Black and Brown residents of the Chicagoland area. The lawsuit charged ICE with violating the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by conducting pretextual traffic stops in order to fingerprint and arrest Latinx residents and by failing to obtain warrants before making mass arrests in community enforcement raids, often called “ICE sweeps.”
On December 2, 2021, the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois preliminarily approved a class action settlement requiring ICE to implement new policies nationwide to prevent officers from making arrests and vehicle stops that violate statutory and constitutional limits, and to fully document the circumstances under which they make vehicle stops and community arrests.
“This hard-fought settlement reflects an acknowledgement by ICE that our laws place meaningful limits on the ability of officers to make warrantless arrests to enforce immigration laws,” said Chicago Associate Pat O’Meara.
“We are grateful to have played a role in holding ICE accountable and reducing the fear of unlawful arrest that so many people of color live with by ensuring that our country’s immigration laws are applied in a nondiscriminatory, constitutional manner,” added Chicago Partner Ivan Poullaos.
The Winston team that worked on this matter includes Chicago Partner Ivan Poullaos and Chicago Associates Nasir Hussain, Pat O’Meara, and Sam Trimbach.
For more information about Winston’s Pro Bono practice and Racial Equity & Justice CEASE Initiative, click here.
You can learn more about Winston’s Pro Bono Practice here.
