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A Minnesota federal judge ordered ICE to free a former DACA recipient, holding that an officer who directed his arrest by phone after a North Dakota traffic stop had no legal basis to skip a warrant.
A federal judge in Minnesota has ruled that a warrantless ICE arrest of a former DACA recipient, made after a routine traffic stop in North Dakota, was unlawful, and ordered him released from immigration detention, Newsweek reported on Nov. 6. U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim found that Ivan De Haro Villagrana was “improperly arrested and detained” because the arrest did not satisfy 8 U.S.C. 1357(a)(2), the provision that allows immigration officers to arrest without a warrant only when they have reason to believe a person is in the country unlawfully and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The Nov. 2 order, in a habeas case docketed as 0:2026cv04612, goes to a pattern behind many recent habeas petitions: a local stop, a phone call to ICE, the arrest first and the paperwork afterward.
According to Newsweek’s account of the order, De Haro is a Mexican citizen who was brought to the United States in 2002 at age 5. He received DACA in 2016, and it was not renewed around 2021 after a DUI conviction. On Sept. 22, a McKenzie County deputy stopped him in Watford City for driving without headlights. When he could not produce identification, the deputy called an ICE officer, who checked records and told the deputy to arrest him on immigration grounds. His administrative warrant, Form I-200, and his Notice to Appear are both dated Sept. 23, the day he was transferred to ICE and after he was already in custody.
Why removability does not justify a warrantless ICE arrest
The statute sets two separate conditions for arresting someone without a warrant. The first, reason to believe the person is removable, is usually met once a records check comes back. The second, a likelihood of escape before a warrant can be obtained, is harder than it sounds, because an I-200 is signed by a supervisory immigration officer, not a judge, and can be issued quickly. The regulation at 8 C.F.R. 287.8(c)(2)(ii) repeats the escape requirement.
The government argued that De Haro was a flight risk, that he was in a working vehicle and that he lived far from an ICE office. Judge Tunheim rejected each point, writing that “removability alone is not a reason to believe that a noncitizen is likely to escape,” according to Newsweek, which also reported that the Eighth Circuit reads the statute’s “reason to believe” language to require probable cause. Those arguments would describe almost anyone stopped while driving in a rural county, and accepting them would make the escape requirement automatic for every removable driver.
The court ordered De Haro released within 48 hours, without conditions such as a tracking device, with 12 hours’ notice to his lawyers and the return of his property and documents. It set a status update for Nov. 5 and called for any further proceedings to be addressed by Nov. 9. Newsweek reported that ICE, DHS and De Haro’s lawyers had not responded to its requests for comment.
What the ruling does not do. A district court order binds only the parties, though its reasoning is likely to be cited by detainees arrested the same way. Earlier this month an Oregon judge found that ICE had broken his order on warrantless arrests in that state, a sign the issue is being litigated well beyond Minnesota. Release also does not end the removal case: courts rarely suppress evidence in removal proceedings because of an unlawful arrest, so the Notice to Appear can still move forward in immigration court. Nor does the order restore De Haro’s DACA, and even an active grant does not stop removal proceedings under a 2026 Board of Immigration Appeals precedent covered in this week’s look at DACA after the midterms.
The open question is what ICE does next. The government can appeal to the Eighth Circuit, and Newsweek’s account does not say whether the order addresses a fresh arrest under a properly issued warrant. That matters because ICE has re-detained people after habeas wins in at least 20 cases nationwide. Minnesota’s federal judges have ordered other releases this fall, including a Canadian dentist held after a green card interview, and the Nov. 9 filing should show whether the government plans to keep fighting this one.
This article is for general information and is not legal advice.
Sources: Newsweek, “Judge Rules ICE Illegally Arrested Former DACA Recipient” (Nov. 6, 2026); 8 U.S.C. 1357, Powers of immigration officers and employees; 8 C.F.R. 287.8, Standards for enforcement activities.
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