Federal Judge Certifies Three Nationwide Classes, Enjoins Arrests of U/T-Visa and VAWA Petitioners in ICWC v. Noem

Judge Andre Birotte Jr. (C.D. Cal.) granted class certification and granted in part / denied in part a preliminary injunction in Immigration Center for Women and Children v. Kristi [Noem] (2:25-cv-09848, filed 2025-10-14) — a nationwide class action, brought by ICWC together with La Raza Centro Legal, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, and individual named plaintiffs, challenging ICE’s rescission of arrest protections for U-visa, T-visa, and VAWA petitioners.

The order (docket entry 57, 2026-05-20) preliminarily certifies three nationwide classes: (1) people with pending U-visa, T-visa, or VAWA self-petitions whom ICE detains or attempts to detain for civil immigration enforcement; (2) people previously granted USCIS deferred action based on a pending U- or T-visa petition whom ICE detained or removed without notice or a hearing; (3) people with a pending U- or T-visa petition who were detained and requested a stay of removal. The order temporarily stays enforcement under the January 2025 Vitello memo (2025-01-31–ice-vitello-memo-rescinds-u-visa-victim-arrest-protections) and directs ICE back toward the pre-2025 victim-centered framework for class members while the case proceeds. It also ordered the government to facilitate the return of named plaintiffs already removed while the case was pending.

A named plaintiff’s story, as stated in Public Counsel’s press release: “Celia,” represented by attorney Susan Beaty of the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, cooperated with federal prosecutors to hold prison staff accountable for sexual assault. Despite a pending U-visa application, Celia was arrested by ICE at an Atlanta airport and deported while traveling to attend her son’s military graduation. Attorney Rebecca Brown, Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project: “This ruling sends a clear message: the government cannot arrest, detain, and deport immigrant survivors who are legally entitled to remain in this country.” Public Counsel represents an estimated 6,000 ICWC clients with pending U, T, and VAWA applications.

Litigation is ongoing and the injunction is not final. The government filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit (docket entry 65-area, June 2026) and separately sought a stay pending Solicitor General appeal authorization; both were contested through July 2026 with the injunction still in effect as of the most recent docket activity (Aug. 26, 2026). A federal habeas case tied to the same policy — 2026-08-03–ramirez-mancia-habeas-release-freeborn-county — was decided independently in Minnesota district court roughly two and a half months after this ruling, indicating the ICWC injunction’s practical reach into individual detention cases was not immediate or automatic; individual habeas litigation continued to be necessary even after class certification.

This is the court order that Minnesota Reformer’s reporting references as having, since May 2026, slowed but not eliminated arrests of U-visa holders in Minnesota: “In May, a federal judge temporarily voided the 2025 ICE memo that permitted agents to detain crime victims with pending U and T visas. Since then, the arrest of such people has slowed,” per Kansas City immigration attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford (AILA executive committee), “but that doesn’t mean that they won’t try and either disregard a court order or appeal it.” See 2026-08-07–ice-arrests-75-uvisa-crime-victims-operation-metro-surge for the Minnesota-specific arrest count this ruling responds to.