North Carolinians Expand Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Immigration Stops, Warrantless Arrests

Justice System Reform

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Melissa Boughton

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Oct. 2, 2026) — North Carolinians filed an amended complaint, motion for preliminary injunction, and expansion of their class action lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) unlawful immigration enforcement practices across the state.

The amended complaint challenges DHS agents’ policy and practice of stopping people without reasonable suspicion that they are unlawfully present in the United States, in addition to the lawsuit’s existing challenge to the agency’s policies and practices of conducting warrantless immigration arrests without the probable cause required by federal law. The plaintiffs also moved for a preliminary court order to immediately halt DHS’s unlawful conduct while the case proceeds.

Read the amended complaint, motion for preliminary injunction, and expansion of their class action.

The lawsuit was initially filed in February by five individuals — including U.S. citizens and a person lawfully present in the United States — on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated. The plaintiffs allege that federal immigration agents stopped and arrested them without the individualized legal justification required by law. The amended complaint adds Fernando Vazquez Orea, a U.S. citizen born in Raleigh, as a plaintiff and details ongoing and escalating immigration enforcement activity across North Carolina. Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ).

Federal law limits when immigration officers may stop and arrest people. The amended complaint alleges that DHS agents may not stop someone to investigate their immigration status without reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States. It also alleges that a warrantless immigration arrest requires probable cause that the person is unlawfully present and poses an escape risk before officers can obtain a warrant. Plaintiffs allege DHS has systematically failed to comply with those requirements.

“People in North Carolina – and across the country – should be able to go to work, run errands, and move through their communities without being unlawfully stopped or arrested by federal agents because of what they look like or the language they speak,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Federal law places clear limits on the powers of immigration enforcement officers for a reason. The experiences detailed in this amended complaint show the profound consequences when those protections are ignored — including for U.S. citizens and people lawfully present in the country. We are continuing this case to protect people from unlawful stops and arrests and to ensure that federal immigration authorities follow the law.”

“North Carolinians should not have to live in fear that going to work, picking up food, or simply going about their daily lives could end in a racially motivated stop and unlawful immigration arrest,” said Corina Scott, Staff Attorney at ACLU of North Carolina. “Our clients are asking the Court to halt DHS’s policy of allowing immigration agents to disregard federal law and strip people of their freedom without any consideration of their identity or circumstances. No government agency is above the law, and we will continue to fight back against these violent and unlawful arrests.”

“DHS agents aren’t just arresting North Carolinians without probable cause — they’re stopping them on the street without reasonable suspicion,” said Lucia Goin, a Staff Attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. “We’re hopeful that the addition of this challenge in the amended complaint will broaden the relief we can obtain for people targeted by DHS’s unlawful policies and practices in the state.”

“When we filed this lawsuit in February, we said it was one step toward reining in lawless federal immigration activity in North Carolina,” said Jake Sussman, Chief Counsel for Justice System Reform at SCSJ. “Since then, DHS has not changed course. Instead, the stops and arrests have been ongoing and escalating. The government can’t make up its own rules about who it gets to stop, question, and detain. We’re asking the court to enforce the rules that already exist and to protect everyone in North Carolina from being targeted without legal justification.”

The amended complaint describes the individual plaintiffs’ experiences and the ongoing effects of DHS’s enforcement practices on communities across North Carolina. It alleges that DHS agents have targeted predominantly Latino neighborhoods, businesses, and gathering places and that people continue to face a substantial risk of future stops and arrests. Plaintiffs are asking the court to halt DHS policies and practices that permit stops without reasonable suspicion and warrantless arrests without the probable cause required by law.

The case is Aceituno et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al.