A federal judge has refused to halt litigation challenging U.S. Border Patrol enforcement tactics in California’s Central Valley, allowing the case to proceed despite the government’s pending appeal. The lawsuit alleges that Border Patrol agents engaged in unconstitutional stops and arrests during immigration enforcement operations far from the border, as reported in the Daily Journal.
“The Court has rejected—now for the third time—the government’s latest attempt to stay the district court litigation wholesale,” Keker partner Christina Lee said in the article. “The order makes clear that the government cannot dodge its ongoing obligations simply because it has appealed the court’s preliminary injunction order. We look forward to vindicating our clients’ claims.”
U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston denied the government’s request for a discretionary stay in United Farm Workers v. Noem, concluding that the government failed to show that continuing the case would impose undue burden or prejudice.
The litigation began just weeks into President Trump’s second term in office, when the United Farm Workers, with the assistance of the ACLU and Keker, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The suit cited violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments stemming from “Operation Return to Sender,” a brazen Border Patrol sweep that targeted farmworkers in Bakersfield and Kern County, 400 miles from the border. Farmworkers reported being stopped without suspicion, arrested without warrants, and pressured to leave the country without being informed of their rights.
In April, Judge Thurston granted a preliminary injunction barring Border Patrol from making stops and arrests without warrants or probable cause and requiring enhanced documentation. She certified two plaintiff classes covering unlawful stops and arrests.
The Keker team includes Lee, of counsel Jason George, and associates Reaghan Braun, Julia Greenberg, Natalie Heim, and Zainab Ramahi.
Read the Daily Journal article here. (subscription required)