Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing a federal court brief challenging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) practice of conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests in Washington, D.C.
The brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, supports a lawsuit alleging that immigration officers have made arrests without properly determining whether individuals are likely to flee before a warrant can be obtained, as required under federal law.
Brown said the enforcement operations have affected Maryland residents, citing a mother who feared visiting her hospitalized son in D.C. and a Prince George’s County educator who reported increased demand for student mental health support following immigration raids.
“ICE’s widespread unlawful arrests in Washington, D.C. do not just affect the people they take into custody; they affect entire families who live in our nation’s capital and its surrounding communities,” Brown said.
The filing is part of Escobar-Molina v. DHS, a case in which a federal district court partially granted a preliminary injunction in December 2025. Maryland joined 20 other states and the District of Columbia in submitting the brief.
