Immigrants Sue ICE for Allegedly Withholding Passports and Other Documents

By WSJ Archiver October 13, 2026 · Edited October 14, 2026

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleges that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is unlawfully retaining the personal property of seven former detainees who have been out of custody for over five months. The complaint claims the agency is violating the Fourth Amendment and its own internal directives by withholding items such as Social Security cards, employment authorization papers, phones, and car keys without providing a clear legal justification. The suit seeks class-action status and names ICE, Acting Director David Venturella, the Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary Markwayne Mullin as defendants. Craig Martin, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, stated that if the agency has a legitimate operational reason for keeping the property, it must identify it, otherwise the items should be returned immediately.

Background

The lawsuit asserts that the seven specific cases represent a broader de facto policy of retaining property without legal basis.
The complaint notes that the withheld items include documents necessary for maintaining employment and housing.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment on the allegations.
The suit argues that agency directives only permit retention of property if there is a clear reason, such as a connection to a criminal case or suspected fraud.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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by WSJ Archiver Oct 14, 2026