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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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A federal judge in Oregon wants more ICE agents on the witness stand after finding that an officer lied in an official arrest record, saying live testimony helped expose it.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai, a Biden appointee, said the case showed why courts should hear directly from government officers when their accounts are disputed, rather than rely solely on written statements.
"Evaluating live testimony is a time-tested method for truth finding," Kasubhai wrote in court filings reviewed by Newsweek. "Written declarations are convenient, but insufficient on their own when witnesses are willing to lie."
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"Live testimony is necessary. Examination and cross-examination are necessary," the judge continued.
The unusually blunt comments came in an order enforcing an earlier injunction against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over warrantless immigration arrests in Oregon. The case challenged ICE arrests made without judicial or administrative warrants. Kasubhai's earlier injunction required officers making warrantless civil immigration arrests to first determine, based on individualized circumstances, that a person was likely to escape before a warrant could be obtained.
The Trump administration has repeatedly clashed with federal courts over the president's mass deportation agenda, accusing judges who block its policies of being "activist judges." At the same time, judges have imposed additional guardrails on ICE as the agency faces lawsuits and accusations of racial profiling, aggressive arrests and other constitutional violations while carrying out the administration's immigration crackdown.
Newsweek has contacted DHS and ICE for comment via email outside office hours.
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ICE Officer Lies on Official Record
After subsequent evidentiary hearings that included testimony from immigration officers, Kasubhai said federal authorities had failed to comply with aspects of his order, and that ICE's reporting of warrantless arrests could not be relied upon.
An arrest report prepared by an ICE deportation officer identified as J.G. was a key part of the judge's decision.
The form said officers had identified H-D-G-H- before approaching his vehicle, and that a supervisor had issued a warrant for his arrest.
But J.G. testified under oath that he did not know H-D-G-H- existed when officers first stopped the vehicle and had no warrant for him at the time, according to the court's order.
J.G. said he had copied much of the account from a report of the driver's arrest and failed to correct it. Kasubhai rejected his explanation that the discrepancies were a mistake.
"He lied in an official record to facilitate the impression he was conducting a lawful warrant-based arrest," the judge wrote, characterizing what occurred as "intentional, coordinated falsification."
The judge said the discrepancy might not have been discovered had the officer not been required to appear and answer questions under oath.
"This case underscores what happens if people were not called to testify under oath in a courtroom, if as a society we do not demand that government agents explain their actions, and if the public fails to shine a spotlight on what is happening under cover," Kasubhai wrote, "people with authority know they will not be held to account."
Judge No Longer Presumes ICE Acted Properly
Kasubhai also said he would no longer give the defendants the "presumption of regularity," which generally allows courts to assume government officials have properly carried out their duties unless evidence shows otherwise.
"This presumption no longer holds for Defendants. The evidence in this case proves as much," the judge wrote, adding, "One must earn credibility by acting with integrity."
Kasubhai pointed to similar concerns in courtrooms across the nation. In September, a federal judge in Massachusetts said that after "repeated misrepresentations by ICE officers," the court would no longer give ICE the presumption of regularity.
Judge Questions ICE’s Arrest Records
Kasubhai also found problems with ICE's arrest records and reporting. ICE reported 13 warrantless arrests over six months, but Kasubhai concluded there had been "significantly more than thirteen." The agency made 574 arrests in Oregon between February 5 and July 31, including 504 that it classified as noncustodial, according to court filings.
Kasubhai said he also found errors, repeated language and false information in ICE's I-213 arrest records. He said the problems made the records unreliable for determining whether warrantless arrests were valid. The misconduct, Kasubhai wrote, "calls into question the veracity of all I-213 forms completed by ICE officers in Oregon."
The judge did not find every disputed encounter unlawful. In one case, he ruled officers had reasonable suspicion to temporarily detain a man they initially mistook for the person they were seeking.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Cannon and Shakeema Edwards.
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