Once again, DHS is lying about our client. If George "assaulted law enforcement," they would've charged him with something during the 3 days he was detained. They released him without charges. That doesn't happen if you assault someone.

NEW CERT PETITION: Shannon McKinnon was charged with a felony. But the case fell apart when it turned out the detective was secretly working for the complainant in the case. @ij.org is working to revive Shannon's lawsuit after the cop was given immunity. 🧵

Constitutional rights shouldn’t depend on a person's ability to pay. That's why, at IJ, we never charge our clients a dime. ❤️ Join our fight for freedom and justice today: https://ij.org/monthly

Thanks to @katiecouric.bsky.social for having @ij.org attorney Jaba on to talk about our cases on behalf of citizens wrongly detained by immigration agents. Watch the interview here: katiecouric.substack.com/p/attacks-on...

This is George Retes' story of being arrested and held for three days without any communication. He was let go without ever being told what crime he had been accused of and missed his daughter's 3rd birthday. Please watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y91V...

You are not paranoid. You are being watched. And police may pull you over for almost nothing if automated cameras flag you as suspicious. When @ij.org client Alek Schott sued a Texas county over an unconstitutional traffic stop, we had no idea what we had uncovered. @apnews.com story below.

In Indiana, prosecutors are supposed to report all forfeiture cases, but @ij.org found a huge gap between filed cases and reported cases. The study shows that Indiana lawmakers are getting a far from complete report card when it comes to forfeiture. It may be sending them the wrong signals.

The latest from @jaredmcclain.bsky.social, a senior attorney at @ij.org, who represents Leonardo Garcia Venegas in a federal class-action lawsuit:

"When officers detain groups of people based on their occupation, their location, or 'how they look,' ... the stop will rarely — if ever — be justified." [email protected]'s @jaredmcclain.bsky.social on ICE's unconstitutional work site raids. @postopinions.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Federal officers are abusing people in Chicago. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court cracked the door open for people all over the U.S. to get justice in a case brought by Trina Martin. She talks with @cbschicago.bsky.social about the legal battle: www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Libby Souder taught swim lessons to kids in her backyard in Columbia, SC for years and she did it with the approval of the city. But last year, the city reinterpreted its rules and banned her backyard lessons. Now @ij.org is helping her fight back against abusive zoning rules.

Throughout the country, local governments are partnering with private companies to install automatic license plate reader cameras (#ALPRs) on their roadways. But IJ is fighting back against mass surveillance.

🔗: https://www.al.com/news/2025/10/alabama-citizen-detained-by-ice-twice-asks-judge-for-class-action.html  A U.S. citizen who was arrested twice at work by federal agents is asking to expand his lawsuit to a class action case.

This is nowhere close to being true. Two @ij.org clients are citizens who were arrested & @propublica.org found 168 more. Plus, we have witness statements from others who--like most of the citizens caught up by Noem's tactics--didn't have their arrests recorded so they didn't make the news.

Another blockbuster story from @nicolefoy.bsky.social. This time on immigration agents smashing windows. projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-sm... IJ client George Retes had his window smashed as agents were yelling contradictory directions, telling him to both back up his car and leave his car.

George Retes on His 3 Day ICE Detention

Latest: I wrote about the DHS Office of Public Affairs shameless lies about ICE arrests and all the times it's lied to me and other reporters lately. DHS did not respond to my request for comment about all the lies it's told. reason.com/2025/10/22/h...

The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer. @nicolefoy.bsky.social

I’ve been asked about Joe Arpaio and last decade’s “show me your papers” laws in a few interviews recently. The current regime feels even worse because showing ICE your papers is not enough if you look Latino. Officers just refuse to believe the papers are real. ij.org/case/alabama...

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Leo, an American citizen, was violently detained by immigration agents after he recorded them making an arrest. DHS claims he obstructed agents, but the cell footage shows the reality: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BeI...

Yesterday I was in Mobile to launch a new @ij.org case on behalf of a U.S. citizen detained multiple times by immigration enforcement. If the Fourth Amendment means anything, then law enforcement can't waltz onto private property and stop people who are doing nothing wrong: youtu.be/rYSfX9Wxs3M?...

WOW. Remember this May video of a US citizen wrestled to the ground by ICE agents and detained for an hour despite having a valid REAL ID? It gets worse. Two weeks later, ICE did it AGAIN — handcuffed him and detained him for 20 minutes despite his REAL ID. Now the Institute for Justice is suing.

🚨 New Case Alert 🚨 Leo Garcia Venegas is an American citizen and construction worker in south Alabama. Even though he has done nothing suspicious and is working on private property, Leo has been repeatedly detained (once violently) by federal officers enforcing immigration laws. 🧵

U.S. citizens, many of them Latino men, have been stopped and in some cases taken into custody by law enforcement officers who are carrying out President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

About once a year I write a @forbes.com article about some outrageous use of forfeiture funds. Today is that day and this self-serving "newsletter" is the subject this time.

DHS says that George was arrested for assaulting officers but released him without charges. Some way to stand up for law enforcement. @ij.org's take: ij.org/press-releas...

With federal law enforcement surging onto the streets, it's a good time to remember that recording officers in public is protected speech. Recently another federal court struck down a "buffer" law in Indiana. It's the 3rd such law to be struck down in recent years. 🧵

VICTORY: Officers Denied #QualifiedImmunity for Arresting and Jailing Woman at Christmas 🧵

US citizens across the country have been caught up in immigration raids, arrested, and detained. How do they get justice when their constitutional rights have been violated? @ij.org is taking on the case of veteran George Retes.

Great news for property rights and the Constitution!

FOIA Files is back! When DOJ seized Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin from Martin Shkreli and then sold it 3 yrs later the agency concealed the sale price citing “trade secrets.” Now, after a four year FOIA battle, I finally got DOJ to reveal the price www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Sonoma County code enforcers are flying drones over homes looking for any violations they can find. If this is the future, then no property owner is safe from potentially ruinous fines. A 🧵 on the threat of blanket searches from the sky.

The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a lawsuit against the FBI in a damages claim arising from an incident in which agents raided the wrong house in Atlanta: www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

The Supreme Court ruled today in favor of a family fighting for justice after an FBI SWAT team wrongly raided their home. This is a big victory for holding federal law enforcement accountable when they make mistakes and hurt people: ij.org/press-releas...

Penny McCarthy was doing yard work in her lawn, two minutes later, she was in the back of an unmarked car, handcuffed. It wasn't a kidnapping, it was a mistaken identity arrest by US Marshals and it's now @ij.org's newest case: youtu.be/3J6SBmLyfG8?...

Sandy owes the city of Lantana, FL over $165,000 in fines--mostly because her family occasionally parked a car with two tires on their own lawn. The city sent her a notice, she moved the car and called the city, but the fines kept racking up for months. Does that sound excessive?

The Flathead Warming Center in Montana was open this winter after it fought with @ij.org against Kalispell's attempt to revoke its zoning permit. A moving video about what the center means for people living in the cold: youtu.be/81Xc7CiOpDM?...

Denver City Council recently voted to reject a contract to extend its automated license plate reader program. My @ij.org colleague Michael Soyfer and I have an op-ed in @coloradosun.com on how these cameras are ripe for abuse 🧵 coloradosun.com/2025/05/27/o...

Can government agents come onto private property whenever they feel like it? They can in Alabama. @ij.org is launching another case to end the "open fields" doctrine and protect land from warrantless searches: youtu.be/Je8mOkgMoWk?...

🚨BREAKING NEWS: For the second time this week, a federal court ordered the Trump administration to stop enforcing intrusive financial surveillance rules on businesses along the border. Cash transaction reporting requirements were lowered from $10K to just $200. Release: ij.org/press-releas...

Flock Safety is expanding its mass surveillance beyond just license plate readers to person-lookup tools “Flock’s constant announcements of new and more invasive features just reinforces the need for a warrant requirement,” @ij.org's Michael Soyfer told @404media.co www.404media.co/license-plat...

10 things you should know about tomorrow's Supreme Court case, Martin v. United States. @ij.org is representing a family who suffered a wrong house raid at the hands of an FBI SWAT team.

New episode of Bound By Oath is a great explainer on the technical issues for tomorrow's SCOTUS argument in Martin v. United States. It answers the age-old question: "Can an administrative functionary have discretion to commit an intentional tort?" No, they cannot. ij.org/podcasts/bou...

Thanks @cjciaramella.bsky.social for this story on @ij.org client Spencer Byrd, which had me tearing up this morning. I too only got to meet Spencer in person once, when he stood up in front of a a dozen Chicago reporters and told his story on the day we filed his lawsuit. reason.com/2025/04/16/t...

Here's a 🧵 about one of the craziest thing I've ever heard a government attorney say in open court: people are free to walk away and board an airplane even when law enforcement is holding onto their ticket and driver's license. That's right, you are "free" to leave your ID.

Texas wants to get bigger, but it's already behind on building homes for the millions more people that its leaders want to welcome in the coming years. Fortunately, the state legislature is considering a number of bills that would make it easier to build housing. 🧵

Trina, Toi, and Gabe had their home invaded by an FBI SWAT team who was in the wrong place. Now, they are looking to the Supreme Court to let their quest for justice move forward. @atlantanewsfirst.com reports: www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/03/10/c...

👏On Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill into law that requires the state to obtain parental consent before retaining blood samples from newborns. @ij.org, which sued NJ over its law that does not require consent, applauds the signing of this law. ij.org/press-releas...

Plummeting test scores show that American innovation is sorely needed in K-12 education. Since the pandemic, a lot of innovation has been coming from microschools. But states need to get rid of red tape standing in the way of entrepreneurs. New today in @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/instit...