A federal judge has delivered a devastating rebuke of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, finding that ICE officers fabricated arrest records and lied under oath while carrying out immigration arrests in Oregon.
The 50-page ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai on November 2, found repeated violations of a court order restricting warrantless civil immigration arrests.
And the ruling has put two of the administration’s most prominent law enforcement figures, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, among the named defendants.
The case centers on a preliminary injunction issued February 4 that requires immigration officers to assess whether someone is likely to escape before making a warrantless civil arrest. Officers are also required to document the circumstances behind those arrests and submit reports explaining their decisions.
But according to the judge, ICE officers repeatedly failed to follow those requirements.
Even more troubling, the court found that an ICE officer had fabricated arrest records and provided false testimony under oath.
The plaintiffs argued that federal agents were making arrests applying improper standards, failing to document their decisions, and withholding information that the court had ordered them to provide.
Judge Kasubhai granted the plaintiffs’ motion to enforce the injunction and ordered additional measures to ensure federal immigration authorities comply with the court’s requirements.
Noem and Bondi are named as defendants in their official capacities, meaning the case involves the agencies and government officials responsible for carrying out federal immigration policy. The ruling does not establish that either woman personally fabricated records or lied under oath.
Federal officials have disputed the allegations, and the administration is appealing the underlying injunction.
Still, the ruling represents another serious legal setback for Trump’s immigration operation. A federal court has now found that the government failed to follow judicial restrictions — and that ICE officers conduct included fabricated records and false testimony.
