Eight Latino New Yorkers and a group of local civil liberties groups sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, claiming that Homeland Security agents target people for immigration enforcement based solely on the way they look.
The federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges “roving bands of masked and heavily-armed federal agents, both on foot and in unmarked cars, are indiscriminately stopping and arresting thousands of Black and Brown people, the vast majority of whom are Latino, based solely on their perceived race and ethnicity.”
Doing so violates people’s rights against unreasonable searches by government agents, as well as people’s right to equal protection under the law, the complaint says.
“The Trump administration’s sweeping campaign of suspicionless stops and warrantless immigration arrests without probable cause is terrorizing New York communities and tearing families apart,” the lawsuit states.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about the lawsuit.
In the first six months of 2025, immigration enforcement officials arrested 2,888 people in and around New York City, more than triple the number in the last six months of the Biden administration, according to the suit. The complaint says the rate of arrests has since increased.
“New Yorkers should be able to go about their daily lives without fear of being targeted by masked federal agents because of the color of their skin," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
