A coalition of prominent civil rights and immigrant advocacy organizations has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that federal immigration authorities are systematically carrying out unlawful, warrantless arrests across Maryland based on racial profiling.
The 56-page complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, contends that federal agents have instituted an unconstitutional "arrest first, ask questions later" strategy. The legal groups argue that these enforcement practices directly violate the Fourth Amendment and other federal statutes by detaining individuals without probable cause simply because they appear to be immigrants.
The litigation names several top federal officials and departments as defendants, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director David Venturella, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and their respective agencies, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
The lawsuit was initiated by a coalition comprising We Are CASA, the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, and the National Immigration Project. Together, they represent four Maryland residents, including three individuals identified only by their initials to shield their identities and a named U.S. citizen.
Among the plaintiffs is Samuel Guzman, a U.S. citizen born and raised in Maryland. According to the complaint, Guzman was seized by immigration agents outside a 7-Eleven convenience store. Despite showing his identification and repeatedly informing the officers of his United States citizenship, agents detained him, underscoring what advocates describe as a pervasive threat of wrongful detention facing local residents.
The legal filing presents extensive data detailing the scope of federal enforcement actions in Maryland since President Donald Trump assumed office for his second term on January 20, 2025. According to the complaint, federal authorities have executed more than 7,000 street arrests in the state over the subsequent 21 months.
The advocates highlight that the vast majority of those detained had no criminal records. The lawsuit asserts that 80 percent of the individuals arrested by ICE in Maryland since early 2025 had zero criminal convictions.
Furthermore, the legal challenge targets recent surge initiatives, including "Operation Safe Community," a two-week enforcement campaign conducted across Maryland and Virginia. The lawsuit notes that out of approximately 1,300 people arrested during that operation, fewer than one-third had any criminal convictions on their records.
Demographic figures cited in the filing also form the foundation of the plaintiffs' claims of discriminatory profiling. The complaint reveals that 93 percent of the more than 7,000 individuals arrested on Maryland streets were citizens of Caribbean or Latin American nations, which attorneys argue demonstrates targeted enforcement against Black and brown communities.
During a news conference at We Are CASA’s multicultural center in Langley Park, the organization's legal director, Shana Kader, sharply criticized the conduct of federal officers operating in local neighborhoods. She described the agents as plainclothes, armed, masked, unidentified, and improperly trained personnel who have caused widespread fear.
Kader emphasized that the enforcement sweeps have extended across the entire state, targeting minority communities from the Eastern Shore to Baltimore's Park Heights neighborhood and the western mountains of Washington County. She stated that agents have consistently surveilled these areas to detain individuals without warrants based strictly on perceived race or national origin.
Legal representatives from the participating organizations, including Sonia Kumar, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Maryland, and Austin Rose, managing attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, joined in detailing the constitutional injuries suffered by community members under the ongoing enforcement surge.
The filing coincided with the release of Tiago Alexandre Sousa Martin, a Maryland father who returned home from ICE custody on Thursday. Martin had been detained following a Christmas Eve incident in Anne Arundel County where he was shot by ICE agents in a local neighborhood.
The legal action also follows closely behind a contentious incident in Frederick, Maryland, where video footage provided by Hagerstown Rapid Response showed federal agents clashing with community demonstrators outside a home. The footage captured agents pushing protesters and striking an individual on the ground with a baton.
Although managing attorney Austin Rose clarified that the Baltimore federal lawsuit is not directly linked to the violent encounter in Frederick, advocates maintain that both events reflect a broader pattern of aggressive and unlawful conduct by federal immigration personnel.
Neither Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor the Department of Homeland Security provided an immediate response to requests for comment regarding the federal complaint.
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