Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against DHS Over Immigration Re-Detention Policy in Southeast
Four individuals have initiated a class action lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) recent policy reversal that has led to the re-detention of immigrants in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by the ACLU affiliates of these states and Foley Hoag LLP, alleges that DHS abruptly abandoned its longstanding 'Changed Circumstances Policy' around May 2025. This previous policy prevented immigration officers from re-detaining individuals who had been released from custody unless their circumstances materially changed. The new 'Re-Detention Policy' now permits re-arrest and re-detention without such a determination, impacting thousands of noncitizens who were complying with their release conditions. The plaintiffs, including Livinton Sosa Martinez, Raquel Mariona Ebora, Alvaro Ibañez-Cardenas, and Ambrosio Trujillo Zavaleta, seek to have the new policy declared unlawful, blocked, and the former po...