ICE Hit With Nationwide Class Action Over Withheld Passports, Work Permits

Seven people released from immigration detention are suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The plaintiffs say the agency has routinely failed to return passports, work permits, identification documents, and personal belongings after detainees leave custody, sometimes leaving them unable to work, drive, or support their families.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, accuses ICE of maintaining a nationwide “de facto policy” of withholding property even when the government no longer has a legitimate reason to keep it. The plaintiffs say the practice has left people unable to work or drive, facing high financial costs and, in some cases, afraid to leave their homes without identification.

The seven plaintiffs are asking the court to certify a nationwide class, order ICE to return property it has withheld and require the agency to adopt safeguards governing belongings seized from people in civil immigration detention. They say the practice violates the Fourth Amendment and federal administrative law, as well as ICE’s own directives governing detainee property.

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The lawsuit says the seven named plaintiffs were released without property including passports, Social Security cards, employment authorization documents, driver’s licenses, cellphones, car keys, cash, clothing and, in one case, a wedding ring. Each had been out of ICE custody for at least five months while still missing property when the complaint was filed, according to the lawsuit.

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