July 29, 2022

Munger Tolles Secures Settlement Ending Immigration Arrests by Private Contractors in California

Munger, Tolles & Olson alongside the ACLU Foundation of Northern California and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus reached a settlement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that ends the agency’s alleged practice of contracting with private companies to make immigration arrests at California prisons and jails.

The settlement was reached more than a year after a team of MTO attorneys, the ACLU and AAAJ sued ICE on behalf of Gabriela Solano, a Mexican Native and permanent resident in the United States, who was facing the threat of immigration arrest and removal proceedings following her release on parole from state custody. 

The federal putative class action alleged the agency violated federal law by contracting and directing private contractors to perform immigration arrests without an immigration officer present.

In addition to ending the practice, ICE agreed to implement additional training for its personnel as well as a monitoring process to ensure compliance with the settlement.

The MTO team was led by David Moreshead and included Jacob Kreilkamp and Robert Bowen.

The settlement was covered by multiple media outlets including Law360, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle

To learn more about the settlement, click here.