On August 2, 2026, the ACLU and its state affiliates announced a coordinated nationwide action against Trump-administration immigration enforcement: 54 administrative claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, spanning 17 states and Washington, D.C. An FTCA claim is the mandatory first step before suing the federal government; the agencies have six months to respond before the ACLU can file federal lawsuits.
The filings, part of a campaign the ACLU calls “The People v. Agents of Chaos and Cruelty,” allege a pattern of misconduct by federal immigration agents: excessive force, unlawful and warrantless arrests, racial profiling, retaliation against First Amendment activity, and abuse in detention, including claims brought by U.S. citizens and lawful residents who say they were wrongfully detained. An accompanying ACLU report examined more than 1,200 enforcement incidents across eight states and found that more than 400 involved agent misconduct.
The claims include deaths in custody, among them Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero in Maine, and note that the rate of deaths in ICE custody has more than doubled since Trump's second term began, the highest in over a decade. One claim is on behalf of Dr. Norma Bowe, a New Jersey nurse and Kean University professor, who alleges she was assaulted by federal agents while providing medical care outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark.