Maryland AG Anthony Brown Backs Legal Challenge to Halt ICE Warrantless Arrests Across the State
* Support for Guzmán v. DHS Lawsuit: The state's amicus brief directly backs a class action lawsuit filed by Annapolis-born plaintiff Samuel Guzmán, three other individuals, and advocacy organization CASA against the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit challenges a widespread pattern of ICE officers apprehending individuals across Maryland without warrants and without the individualized probable cause required by law.
* Statutory Standards for Warrantless Arrests: Under federal immigration statutes, officers are strictly prohibited from conducting a warrantless arrest unless they establish two distinct criteria: probable cause of unlawful presence and specific evidence that the individual is likely to flee before a formal warrant can be secured. The Attorney General argues that ICE systematically bypasses this mandatory flight-risk determination prior to apprehending individuals in local neighborhoods.
* Dramatic Spike in Arrest Figures: According to state findings, ICE has purportedly conducted nearly 7,000 warrantless arrests in Maryland since January 2025 alone. This surge represents an estimated 500 percent spike in the weekly rate of warrantless apprehensions compared to the previous year and has mistakenly swept up U.S. citizens, including named plaintiff Samuel Guzmán.
* Documented Harm Across Maryland Communities: The Attorney General's brief highlights that these aggressive enforcement tactics inflict substantial collateral damage on Maryland families and public institutions. The resulting climate of fear has led to declining school graduation rates among English-learner and Hispanic students, immigrant families avoiding essential healthcare services, disruptions to local businesses, and a breakdown in community trust that makes victims and witnesses afraid to contact local law enforcement.
* Statewide Immigrant Protections: With more than one million immigrant residents living in Maryland, state officials emphasize that statutory due process rights must be upheld uniformly to safeguard everyone. Detailed tracking of state actions defending community rights can be accessed through the Attorney General's Federal Actions Response portal.
Why This Matters:
For Baltimore families and communities across Maryland, the enforcement of statutory constitutional safeguards is foundational to community well-being and public safety. When federal agencies disregard established legal standards for arrests, the consequences ripple far beyond individual households. Neighborhood stability suffers when parents become hesitant to take children to routine medical appointments, send students to school, or report neighborhood crimes and domestic violence to local police out of fear of wrongful detention.
Ensuring that federal immigration authorities are held accountable to federal law protects the basic rights of every Maryland resident, including native-born citizens. Because our local economy, public school systems, and neighborhood networks are deeply intertwined with immigrant families, defending clear legal limits against arbitrary arrests helps maintain public trust, strengthens community health, and ensures that all Marylanders can live without fear of unlawful overreach.
