A federal district court in Washington, D.C., declared on remand that the U.S. Marshals Service lacks the legal authority and necessary training to detain or arrest criminal defendants in the District of Columbia Superior Court for suspected civil immigration violations. The ruling, issued in N.S. v. Hughes, grants in part and denies in part the plaintiffs' motion for alternative remedies and denies the government's motion to dismiss.
The case began in January 2020, when a man identified in court filings as N.S. was arrested on robbery and destruction of property charges. After a magistrate judge ordered him released on his own recognizance, U.S. Marshals detained him inside the courthouse based on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer until ICE officers took him into custody. The man filed a class-action complaint challenging the practice, arguing the Marshals lacked both statutory authority and required training to make civil immigration arrests.
In October 2021, the district court permanently enjoined the U.S. Marshals from detaining criminal defendants for suspected civil immigration violations. The D.C. Circuit affirmed in June 2025, holding that the Marshals lacked necessary training, but vacated the injunction in light of the Supreme Court's intervening decision in Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez. The circuit remanded for reconsideration of the appropriate remedy.
On remand, the government argued the case was largely moot because the Marshals had since received training to carry out immigration arrests. The court disagreed, finding that the training was insufficient under federal regulations and that a January 2025 delegation of authority from the acting secretary of homeland security to the Marshals was invalid because it was issued without notice-and-comment rulemaking.
The court noted that to execute an immigration arrest warrant, an officer must have successfully completed basic immigration law enforcement training, as specified in 8 C.F.R. § 287.5(e)(3). The court held that the training the Marshals received did not meet that standard.
The court declared that the U.S. Marshals Service lacks legal authority and necessary training to detain or arrest criminal defendants in D.C. Superior Court for suspected civil immigration violations. The government's position on the case's mootness was not given in the source account.