Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston ruled that Border Patrol broke her prior order restricting warrantless arrests during a 2025 sweep at a Sacramento Home Depot and granted a United Farm Workers motion to enforce that injunction.
- In the July 2025 operation, agents detained day laborers in the parking lot and arrested 11 noncitizens and one U.S. citizen, according to court records.
- The court found agents used 11 virtually identical forms to justify detentions and arrests, with names of agents blacked out and records that contained errors or could not be tied to specific people.
- One report claimed a short foot pursuit, yet the judge noted the route from the store to the arrest site was a 12‑minute walk, underscoring what she called inaccurate and incomplete documentation.
- The government said the sweep drew on surveillance and common knowledge of worker gatherings, with filings suggesting use of video or a drone, but the judge ordered agents across California’s Eastern District to record specific reasons for each stop going forward.