Judge orders US border agents to improve arrest documentation

A federal judge has ordered US border agents to comply with documentation requirements for immigration stops, finding their records insufficient to justify recent detentions, according to Courthouse News Service on Wednesday.

US District Judge Jennifer Thurston said agents failed to adequately document reasonable suspicion during a July 2025 enforcement action at a Home Depot in Sacramento, California. Agents used nearly identical I-213 forms to support detentions and arrests, which the court found lacked individualized facts.

Thurston had previously ruled in April 2025 that agents must not detain individuals without reasonable suspicion of immigration violations or make warrantless arrests without probable cause of flight risk. Her latest order reinforces that directive, requiring agents to provide detailed narrative reports explaining the basis for each stop.

The case stems from a lawsuit by United Farm Workers challenging "Operation Return to Sender," which targeted immigrants in California's Central Valley. The union alleges agents relied on broad assumptions about ethnicity, location, and occupation rather than specific evidence.

The judge noted that unprovoked flight alone does not establish reasonable suspicion and said the agents' reports failed to bridge that gap.

Thurston ordered agents to sign and date reports attesting to their accuracy and include specific facts supporting their actions.