Judge finds ICE made warrantless arrests in Oregon and falsified records

A federal judge in Eugene, Oregon, ruled Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kept making warrantless arrests in the state despite a February court order and misreported how many it made, and ordered the agency to comply ¹.

U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, appointed by President Joe Biden, issued a preliminary injunction in February blocking ICE from making warrantless arrests in Oregon unless officers determined an individual posed a flight risk ¹. Two men who say they were arrested in Oregon and taken to a Washington state processing facility more than 100 miles away then accused ICE of not following it ¹.

From Feb. 5 to July 31, federal immigration officials arrested 574 people in Oregon, the judge wrote. Of those, 504 were noncustodial arrests, meaning they likely occurred without a warrant. ICE reported only 13 warrantless arrests during that period ¹.

Kasubhai wrote that the sole ICE officer who testified admitted to falsely stating facts in official agency documentation about the basis for an arrest ¹. The officer, identified as J.G., testified that he wrote his account "as if I … already knew who the person was, but I did not" ¹.

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This case underscores what happens if people were not called to testify under oath in a courtroom, if as a society we do not demand that government agents explain their actions, and if the public fails to shine a spotlight on what is happening under cover — people with authority know they will not be held to account

The judge also found that ICE failed to properly document and disclose warrantless arrests, as the injunction required every 30 days ¹. He wrote that the documents produced showed "defendants’ falsification of I-213s, misstatements of material facts when evaluated against credible testimony under oath" and "boilerplate language that casts significant doubt on ICE agents’ meaningful investigation of necessary facts" ¹. An I-213 is the form ICE uses to record an arrest.

Kasubhai ordered ICE to keep sending the injunction's terms to officers and employees, to produce past documentation to the plaintiffs, and to hand over body camera footage for arrests after Sept. 1 and any arrest documents the plaintiffs request ¹. No parties responded to a request for comment before press time, Courthouse News reported ¹.

A second ruling, in Minnesota

The Oregon ruling came a day after U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis in Minnesota ordered the release of William Virgil Lizardo, a 32-year-old Canadian dentist and father, finding his arrest and detention violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments ². Davis, appointed by President Bill Clinton, called the facts "appalling" and criticized the government for admitting that USCIS made a big mistake without offering any sort of relief, writing that such hubris was galling, though not surprising ². USCIS is U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Lizardo was released from ICE custody at about 9 p.m. Sunday, three hours after the judge's 6 p.m. deadline, his attorney Hassan Ahmad said ². "What should shock the conscience of every American is that this was a case where the government knew it made a huge mistake, sending a deportation notice to an address it knew was stale, but even after the case was reopened, they persisted in fighting to keep Dr. Lizardo detained," Ahmad told Newsweek ².

The ruling does not grant Lizardo permanent residency or resolve his immigration case, which remains reopened after an immigration court rescinded the earlier removal order ².

Why it matters

That matters because both rulings rest on the same question: whether the government followed its own paperwork and the courts' orders. In Oregon, the judge wrote that the usual assumption that officials act in good faith "no longer holds for defendants. The evidence in this case proves as much" ¹. The Oregon case remains before Kasubhai, with ICE required to report on its arrests every 30 days ¹.

The Record

1. Feb 5, 2026Start of the period in which federal immigration officials arrested 574 people in Oregon, 504 of them noncustodial, while ICE reported only 13 warrantless arrests ¹.
2. Oct 23, 2026William Virgil Lizardo learned of his removal order when he appeared for an immigration interview in St. Paul and was arrested by two ICE agents at the end of it ².
3. Oct 28, 2026An immigration court granted Lizardo's motion to rescind the removal order and reopen his case after finding he had shown a lack of notice ².
4. Nov 1, 2026Judge Michael J. Davis ordered Lizardo released by 6 p.m.; he was freed at about 9 p.m., three hours late, his attorney said ².

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<h2>Judge finds ICE made warrantless arrests in Oregon and falsified records</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files National Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/judge-finds-ice-made-warrantless-arrests-in-oregon-and-falsified-records">The GOP Files</a> on Monday, November 2, 2026.</em></p> <p>A federal judge in Eugene, Oregon, ruled Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kept making warrantless arrests in the state despite a February court order and misreported how many it made, and ordered the agency to comply .</p> <p>U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, appointed by President Joe Biden, issued a preliminary injunction in February blocking ICE from making warrantless arrests in Oregon unless officers determined an individual posed a flight risk . Two men who say they were arrested in Oregon and taken to a Washington state processing facility more than 100 miles away then accused ICE of not following it .</p> <p>From Feb. 5 to July 31, federal immigration officials arrested 574 people in Oregon, the judge wrote. Of those, 504 were noncustodial arrests, meaning they likely occurred without a warrant. ICE reported only 13 warrantless arrests during that period .</p> <p>Kasubhai wrote that the sole ICE officer who testified admitted to falsely stating facts in official agency documentation about the basis for an arrest . The officer, identified as J.G., testified that he wrote his account &quot;as if I … already knew who the person was, but I did not&quot; .</p> <blockquote><p>This case underscores what happens if people were not called to testify under oath in a courtroom, if as a society we do not demand that government agents explain their actions, and if the public fails to shine a spotlight on what is happening under cover — people with authority know they will not be held to account</p><p>&mdash; Mustafa Kasubhai, U.S. District Judge, Oregon</p></blockquote> <p>The judge also found that ICE failed to properly document and disclose warrantless arrests, as the injunction required every 30 days . He wrote that the documents produced showed &quot;defendants’ falsification of I-213s, misstatements of material facts when evaluated against credible testimony under oath&quot; and &quot;boilerplate language that casts significant doubt on ICE agents’ meaningful investigation of necessary facts&quot; . An I-213 is the form ICE uses to record an arrest.</p> <p>Kasubhai ordered ICE to keep sending the injunction&#39;s terms to officers and employees, to produce past documentation to the plaintiffs, and to hand over body camera footage for arrests after Sept. 1 and any arrest documents the plaintiffs request . No parties responded to a request for comment before press time, Courthouse News reported .</p> <h2>A second ruling, in Minnesota</h2> <p>The Oregon ruling came a day after U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis in Minnesota ordered the release of William Virgil Lizardo, a 32-year-old Canadian dentist and father, finding his arrest and detention violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments . Davis, appointed by President Bill Clinton, called the facts &quot;appalling&quot; and criticized the government for admitting that USCIS made a big mistake without offering any sort of relief, writing that such hubris was galling, though not surprising . USCIS is U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.</p> <p>Lizardo was released from ICE custody at about 9 p.m. Sunday, three hours after the judge&#39;s 6 p.m. deadline, his attorney Hassan Ahmad said . &quot;What should shock the conscience of every American is that this was a case where the government knew it made a huge mistake, sending a deportation notice to an address it knew was stale, but even after the case was reopened, they persisted in fighting to keep Dr. Lizardo detained,&quot; Ahmad told Newsweek .</p> <p>The ruling does not grant Lizardo permanent residency or resolve his immigration case, which remains reopened after an immigration court rescinded the earlier removal order .</p> <h2>Why it matters</h2> <p>That matters because both rulings rest on the same question: whether the government followed its own paperwork and the courts&#39; orders. In Oregon, the judge wrote that the usual assumption that officials act in good faith &quot;no longer holds for defendants. The evidence in this case proves as much&quot; . The Oregon case remains before Kasubhai, with ICE required to report on its arrests every 30 days .</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/judge-finds-ice-made-warrantless-arrests-in-oregon-and-falsified-records">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/judge-finds-ice-made-warrantless-arrests-in-oregon-and-falsified-records.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

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Sources

1. Courthouse News, “Judge scolds ICE over warrantless arrests in Oregon, orders compliance” (2026-11-02). courthousenews.com/judge-scolds-ice-over-warrantless-arrests
2. Newsweek, “Judge Blasts ICE Over 'Appalling' Arrest of Dentist” (2026-11-02). newsweek.com/judge-blasts-ice-over-appalling-arrest-of-denti

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