Attorney General Weiser leads state coalition defending limits on ICE warrantless arrests

Attorney General Weiser leads state coalition defending limits on ICE warrantless arrests

Sept. 8, 2026 (DENVER) - Attorney General Phil Weiser today co-led a coalition of attorneys general in urging a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court order requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to comply with statutory safeguards when making warrantless arrests.

In an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Ramirez Ovando v. Mullin, the coalition argues that the preliminary injunction against ICE serves the public interest by requiring federal immigration officers to comply with existing legal guardrails. Federal law allows immigration officers to make an arrest without a warrant only when there is probable cause to believe a person is unlawfully present and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.

"Federal immigration agents are not above the law. Congress put clear limits on when ICE can arrest someone without a warrant, and the Trump administration cannot simply ignore those safeguards in pursuit of its mass deportation agenda," Attorney General Weiser said. "This court order does not stop ICE from enforcing immigration law. It simply requires ICE to follow the law when doing so."

A federal district court in Colorado issued the preliminary injunction after finding that ICE officers had made unlawful warrantless arrests without determining whether individuals were likely to escape before a warrant could be obtained. The court later found that ICE continued making arrests in violation of the injunction. Federal officials appealed the injunction to the Tenth Circuit.

The brief emphasizes the importance of the flight-risk requirement, which prevents federal agents from making warrantless arrests without an individualized determination that a person is likely to flee. The states argue that disregarding this safeguard creates widespread consequences, including reduced school attendance, disruptions to businesses and local economies, avoidance of medical care, and diminished trust in law enforcement that can make victims and witnesses less likely to report crimes.

The coalition argues that the injunction does not interfere with lawful federal immigration enforcement. Instead, it requires immigration officers to operate within the limits Congress established and protects the public from the broader harms caused when federal agents act outside their lawful authority.

Colorado and California co-led the brief and were joined by Arizona, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Read the amicus brief (PDF).

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