ACLU-PA and Kennedy Human Rights Center File Class Action Lawsuit to Stop ICE from Unlawfully Re-Detaining People at Their Check-Ins

PHILADELPHIA — The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA), Handley, Farah, & Anderson PLLC, Langer, Grogan & Diver, P.C., and the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center today filed a federal class action lawsuit against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Philadelphia Field Office and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) challenging the field office’s abandonment of its longstanding Changed Circumstances Policy as a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

For decades, the federal government has allowed immigrants who do not pose a danger to the community or a flight risk to remain out of custody during ongoing removal proceedings if they comply with their conditions of release. Consistent with the federal statutory and regulatory scheme, legal precedent, DHS policy, and the U.S. Constitution, the Philadelphia ICE Field Office adopted and followed the Changed Circumstances Policy. The policy required officers to justify re-arrest and re-detention by first making an individualized determination of a material change in circumstances, such as an indication of new danger or flight risk. In 2025, without any reasonable explanation, they suddenly abandoned this policy. This shift has since induced distress and anxiety throughout the community, as ICE officers re-detain individuals at routine check-ins, who are still in full compliance with all conditions of their release and have no material change in their circumstances.

The lawsuit is being brought in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of three immigrant community members who — individually and as part of a class and subclass of people in similar circumstances — face the threat of re-detention without legal basis. In addition to the ICE field office rescinding its policy unlawfully under the APA, the ACLU-PA and co-counsel contend that re-detaining people in this manner is contrary to guarantees of due process and protections against unreasonable seizures found in the Constitution.

“Over 200 people have been re-arrested despite no material change in their circumstances by the Philadelphia ICE Field Office,” said Vanessa Stine, senior staff attorney at ACLU of Pennsylvania. “When the government releases a person from custody, there is an implicit promise that their liberty will be honored as long as they follow what is asked of them. These re-arrests disregard a decades-old policy and sow fear and chaos. The federal government cannot arbitrarily re-detain people without explanation. To let this continue fails to consider principles embodied in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of our Constitution and violates important protections for immigrants reflected in our laws.”

One Plaintiff is M.P.B, who came to the U.S. in 2023. He was released by immigration authorities who determined that he was not a flight risk or a danger to the community and has since established a home in Philadelphia.

"I came to America hoping for safety and opportunity, and I’ve given my all to build a life here. I have built a community here and, through my job and volunteering, worked to make my community a better place. Yet people like me, who followed everything that has been asked of them by the government, attending our ICE check-ins and going to our immigration court hearings, are being re-detained by ICE,” said M.P.B. “Knowing this, I live in daily fear. I worry about what my community will think of me if I am re-detained, and that everything I’ve worked for will be lost—my scholarship, my degree, and the community I’ve found through teaching and volunteering. What is happening to people contradicts the longstanding idea that as long as people do what is asked of them after they are released, they are not put back in detention. My wish is that this lawsuit will change that for me and the community."

Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit have similar stories. They are navigating stress and concern about what will happen if they are torn from their children, loved ones, and the lives they have come to know.

“The Philadelphia ICE Field Office is playing a numbers game with people’s lives,” said Anthony Enriquez, VP of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at the Kennedy Human Rights Center. “Re-arresting people who the government already found not to be dangerous or flight risks is a callous and calculated decision to fill detention-center beds and the pockets of the private prison executives who profit off of them. Arbitrary detention like this is a serious human rights abuse that U.S. laws prohibit.”

Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and the members of the proposed classes, are requesting that the court declare that the rescission of the Changed Circumstances Policy is unlawful and provide relief that protects the rights of class members.

The complaint can be found here.

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