HARTFORD, Connecticut — Attorney General William Tong announced on October 20, 2026, that a coalition of 22 attorneys general has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in support of litigation challenging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) policy and practice of conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests, which the coalition alleges are unlawful. A parallel announcement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta describes the same filing.

Under federal law, the attorneys general say, immigration officers conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests must have probable cause to believe a person is unlawfully present in the United States and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The brief alleges DHS officers routinely carry out such arrests without determining whether the individual is an escape risk, and highlights what the coalition describes as harms to communities, including in Connecticut. Those are the coalition's allegations in the brief; the court has not ruled on the brief itself in the announcements.

Tong said in his office's statement: 'Trump said he was going to deport violent criminals. Instead, he's terrorizing communities with error-riddled warrantless and meritless arrests that have separated parents from children and crippled local businesses.' He added that there is a reason basic due process exists in the United States.

Bonta's office said he, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser lead the brief, joined by 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. Bonta's office also noted related challenges it has supported, including Ramirez Ovanda v. Mullins, described as a challenge to ICE's policy and practice of warrantless arrests in Colorado, and cases over operations in Kern County and Los Angeles.

For diaspora communities, the case matters because it goes to the legal test officers must meet before a warrantless civil immigration arrest — probable cause plus an individual escape-risk assessment, on the coalition's reading of the law. Awaaz Punjab will follow the D.C. Circuit proceedings and any DHS response filed in court.

Sources: Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, press release, October 20, 2026, via EIN Presswire; California Attorney General Rob Bonta, press release, October 19-20, 2026, via EIN Presswire.