Overview
- Plaintiffs filed a motion on Monday that included body‑camera video, forensically recovered text messages and deposition excerpts in which agents used slurs such as “tonk” and “wet” to refer to Latino people.
- The ACLU and allied lawyers asked for a preliminary injunction to bar stops based on perceived Latino appearance, and U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi‑Mensah Frimpong scheduled a Sept. 24 status conference to consider the request.
- Depositions and documents in the filing show agents described sought individuals by appearance — one saying “Older Hispanic male” — and cite a May 2025 ICE directive urging more arrests of nontargets, called “collaterals,” with language to “turn the creativity knob up to 11.”
- The government has been slow to produce phones for forensic review: only 88 personal devices were volunteered and officials say they are imaging roughly three government phones every two weeks, a pace that would take years to finish; the Department of Homeland Security disputes the accusations.
- The filings say the alleged practices swept up U.S. citizens and lawful residents, raise Fourth and Fifth Amendment concerns, and build on a broader shift from individualized target lists to quota‑driven collateral arrests that has left communities fearful and seeking accountability.