Judge Blocks Warrantless ICE Operations at Alabama Construction Sites

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers cannot carry out a policy that enables warrantless operations at construction sites in southern Alabama, at least for now, a federal judge said on Sept. 21.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock said that the policy is likely illegal and paused the practice on the request of Leo Garcia Venegas, an American citizen and construction worker in Baldwin County who filed a class-action lawsuit after being detained twice at work.

“The Government’s position that the construction site is an open field for which no consent or warrant is ever needed is unconvincing,” the judge wrote in a 24-page order.

He added later, “Plaintiffs will likely prevail on the merits because the warrantless entry of ‘the non-public areas of a business,’ … for the purpose of questioning the occupants or employees concerning their right to be or remain in the United States” without “a warrant or the consent of the owner or other person in control of the site to be inspected’ runs afoul of federal law.”

“For the first time in a long time, I will be able to go to work without worrying that I will be arrested for no reason,” Venegas said in a statement. “Americans cannot be stopped and held by law enforcement when they are doing nothing wrong.”

Jared McClain, a senior attorney with the Institute of Justice and one of Venegas’s lawyers, said that the decision was a blow to what he called the department’s “lawless enforcement practices.”

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. Government lawyers have defended warrantless operations in court, saying they follow legal requirements such as having reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.

The ruling pauses the policy, which authorized agents to enter construction sites without a warrant or consent, in southern Alabama.

Venegas, who was born in Florida in 1999, was detained during ICE operations on May 21, 2025, and June 12, 2025, according to court filings. The contractor for Southern Home Crafters was held for some time even after he showed officers his driver’s license, his lawyers said.

Venegas also challenged officers preemptively detaining workers on private property absent suspicion they’re violating laws, and continuing to detain individuals who present proof of citizenship or otherwise being in the country legally on the assumption certain workers are illegal immigrants. Beaverstock ruled that those policies are also likely illegal, and said federal authorities must not carry them out as the case proceeds.