On Oct. 19, 2026, the attorney general’s office said Attorney General co-led a multistate coalition in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Escobar‑Molina v. DHS challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s policy and practice of conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests.
The office said federal law requires immigration officers conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests to have probable cause to believe an individual is unlawfully present and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
The brief, the office said, argues DHS officers routinely carry out warrantless arrests without determining whether the individual is an escape risk.
Attorney General Bonta said, “The Trump Administration has engaged in an aggressive, militaristic mass deportation program with no regard for people’s humanity and dignity. Federal immigration agents are arresting people without the requisite probable cause determination, often while masked, wearing armor, and carrying lethal weapons. California will not stand by while this Administration creates fear in our immigrant communities. We will continue to fight back, defend our neighbors, and stand up for the rights and dignity of every person.”
The office said the brief describes harms to communities in California and nationwide, including students kept out of school, disrupted agricultural work, people discouraged from seeking medical care, families’ financial instability and weakened relationships between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.
The brief also points to federal agents’ use of ski masks, dark sunglasses, plainclothes, unmarked vehicles and refusals to identify themselves while carrying out operations, the office said.
The office said the filing was made in Escobar‑Molina v. DHS; it noted that on Dec. 2, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted in part a motion for a preliminary injunction in the case.
The office said Bonta has also sued to challenge federal civil immigration enforcement near state courthouses and has filed or joined amicus briefs in United Farm Workers v. Noem; Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem; and Ramirez Ovanda v. Mullins, among other challenges to federal immigration enforcement practices in multiple states. The brief in Escobar‑Molina was led by Bonta, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and included the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, the office said.
State
Rob Bonta
Attorney General · Democrat
Named 4 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
Sources & methodology
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