Due Process/Procedural Rights

Lawsuit alleges that DHS and ICE violated the Fourth Amendment rights of immigrants and U.S. citizens by secretly instructing agents to enter homes without a warrant

2025 has brought one emergency after another. But in this crisis, residents across D.C. fought for their rights and showed why the urgency of self-governance in D.C. is more important than ever.

Four Washington, D.C. community members and the national immigration organization CASA sued the Trump administration today on behalf of themselves and a class of similarly-situated individuals, alleging that the federal government has engaged in a pattern of illegal immigration arrests since August.

This ruling is a vital reminder that due process is not optional. Expanding expedited removal would have exposed thousands to potential wrongful deportation, without even the chance to make their case.

For four years, the White House provided American Sign Language (“ASL”) interpretation for its press briefings. It stopped doing so, however, in January 2025 when President Trump returned to office. This excluded deaf Americans, including Plaintiffs Derrick Ford and members of the National Association of the Deaf, from access to the White House press briefings. Plaintiffs sued and moved for a preliminary injunction to order the government to resume providing ASL interpretation during press briefings, arguing that the government’s failure to do so discriminates against deaf Americans in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The district court granted Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, holding that it established a likelihood of success on the merits of its Rehabilitation Act claim. The government appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It contends that Plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed because, among other reasons, the court lacks power to enforce Section 504. Specifically, according to the government, Congress precluded judicial review of a Section 504 claim; and even if it didn’t, Plaintiffs should nonetheless lose because they do not satisfy the heightened standard for “ultra vires” claims—which the government describes as a “Hail Mary pass” and one that requires the agency to have acted contrary to a specific prohibition in a statute, rather than simply showing that the project is unauthorized by the relevant statutes. On June 2, 2026, we filed an amicus brief in support of Plaintiffs to refute Defendants’ objections regarding the enforceability of Section 504. We first argue that federal courts have inherent equitable power to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act based on courts’ historical powers, recognized by the Supreme Court, to prevent the government from violating the law, and that nothing about the Rehabilitation Act suggests that Congress intended to foreclose judicial review of Plaintiffs’ Section 504 claim. We also argue that a plaintiff bringing an ultra vires claim is not generally required to show that a government official’s action was contrary to a specific prohibition in a statute. Instead, the plaintiff only needs to show that the official’s action was unauthorized by law. This default standard is over a century old and well-established in the Supreme Court’s precedents and supported by the D.C. Circuit’s precedents. By contrast, the demanding standard the government proposes for ultra vires claims should apply only where Congress has limited judicial review. Because there is no statutory limitation on judicial review of Plaintiffs’ claim, the ordinary, default standard—rather than the heightened standard proposed by Defendants—applies. Whether courts can enforce laws duly enacted by Congress even in the absence of a statutory cause of action and the standard courts apply to ultra vires claims are important issues because they can determine the Executive Branch’s ability to get away with violating the law and whether the party challenging unlawful executive action will win or lose its claim. Under the government’s position, any time a party alleges that a government official is acting without legal authority and there is no private right of action in a statute, the party would need to satisfy the heightened “Hail Mary” standard, making it highly unlikely it will win. Such a rule would undermine rule of law and separation of powers principles and improperly hamper courts’ ability to review executive action for compliance with federal law. We therefore urged the D.C. Circuit in our amicus brief to reject the government’s sweeping position and apply the ordinary, default standard to Plaintiffs’ Rehabilitation Act claim. The D.C. Circuit has not yet scheduled oral argument.

On July 31, 2025, the White House announced in a press release that it plans to build a ballroom funded by private donations at the site where the East Wing of the White House used to stand. The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, a nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and protect historic resources in Washington, D.C., sued and moved for a preliminary injunction to stop the ballroom project. It alleges, among other things, that the proposed White House ballroom project is “ultra vires” (in excess of) the President and Executive Branch officials’ authority under the relevant statutes. The district court granted the Trust’s motion for a preliminary injunction, holding that it established a likelihood of success on the merits of its ultra vires claim. The government appealed the district court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Among their arguments, the government contends that the Trust cannot satisfy the demanding standard—a “Hail Mary pass”—that they argue applies to the Trust’s ultra vires claim. According to the government, the Trust must show that the proposed ballroom project is contrary to a specific prohibition in a statute, rather than simply showing that the project is unauthorized by the relevant statutes. On May 28, 2026, we filed an amicus brief in support of the Trust to refute the government’s argument that such a demanding standard applies to ultra vires claims. Under the default standard applicable in most cases, including this one, a plaintiff bringing an ultra vires claim is not required to show that a government official’s action was contrary to a specific prohibition in a statute. Instead, the plaintiff only needs to show that the official’s action was unauthorized by law. This default standard is over a century old and well-established in the Supreme Court’s precedents and supported by the D.C. Circuit’s precedents. By contrast, the demanding standard the government proposes for ultra vires claims should apply only where Congress has limited judicial review. Because there is no statutory limitation on judicial review of Plaintiff’s challenge to the proposed ballroom, the ordinary, default standard—rather than the heightened standard proposed by the government—applies. The standard courts apply to ultra vires claims is important because it can determine whether the party challenging unlawful executive action will win or lose its claim. Under the government’s position, any time a party alleges that a government official is acting without legal authority and there is no private right of action in a statute, the party would need to satisfy the heightened “Hail Mary” standard, making it highly unlikely it will win. Such a rule would undermine rule of law and separation of powers principles and improperly hamper courts’ ability to review executive action for compliance with federal law. We therefore urged the D.C. Circuit in our amicus brief to reject the government’s sweeping position and apply the ordinary, default standard to the Trust’s ultra vires claim. The D.C. Circuit is scheduled to hear oral argument in this case on June 5, 2026.

This case challenges the Trump administration’s secretive elimination of bedrock safeguards from the expedited removal process, a fast-track deportation procedure. Since 1997, when the expedited removal system was first put into practice, immigration officials were required to advise all noncitizens of their right to seek protection from persecution and torture and to ask all noncitizens if they fear being removed. These requirements reflected the United States’ non-refoulment treaty obligations not to remove noncitizens to countries where they could fear persecution or torture, and were reflected in specific forms immigration officials use during expedited removal, Forms I-867A and I-867B (collectively, “Form I-867”). Given the importance of these safeguards, courts have invalidated prior attempts by the government to summarily deport noncitizens without providing them notice and an opportunity to seek protection. Yet in February 2025, the Trump administration adopted a Revised Form I-867 that eliminated the fear advisal and questions. It adopted this revised form without any public notice or announcement at the time. It was not until January 29, 2026 that the government first announced in a court filing that it had quietly adopted this revised version of the Form nearly a year earlier. Together with the National ACLU, we filed this case in the federal district court in D.C. on behalf of non-profit organizations that have noncitizens as members and individual noncitizens seeking relief from Revised Form I-867. We allege that the Revised Form is unlawful because it violates the Due Process Clause under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution and various provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. We are asking the court to, among other things, vacate the Revised Form I-867, enjoin the government from employing the Revised Form, and order the government to return the individual noncitizen plaintiffs who were summarily removed pursuant to the unlawful Revised Form to the United States, parole them into the country, and allow them the opportunity to seek immigration relief.  

In March 2025, President Trump issued an order directing “every executive department and agency head . . . to revoke any active security clearances held by” a group of named individuals “and to immediately rescind their access to classified information.” That list included Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Cheney, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former President Joseph Biden, “and any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s family.” That list also included Mark Zaid, an attorney who represents national security whistleblowers and other clients in cases involving classified information—significantly including the intelligence community whistleblower whose disclosures resulted in President Trump’s first impeachment. President Trump has called Mr. Zaid a “sleazeball,” and has said “he should be sued and maybe for treason.” Mr. Zaid sued, and in December 2025 won a preliminary injunction restoring his clearance. The government appealed, and on March 27, 2026, we filed an amicus brief supporting him, together with the National ACLU, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Rutherford Institute. Argument is scheduled for May 14, 2026.