County Fight Litigation

Baldwin County AL — Construction site raids, US citizen detained twice, IJ lawsuit

Baldwin, AL FIPS 01003

Current status: Class-action Garcia Venegas v. Homan (1:25-cv-00397, S.D. Ala.) filed Sep 2025 by Institute for Justice. Plaintiff detained a THIRD time May 2, 2026. Chief Judge Beaverstock (Trump appointee) ruled May 20, 2026 that Venegas has STANDING, denying DHS's motion to dismiss. Preliminary-injunction hearing held May 27, 2026 in Mobile with live testimony from Venegas and HSI Acting ASAC Philip Lavoie; ruling pending. Raids continue.

The Fight

Since January 2025, ICE has conducted at least 15 warrantless, suspicionless raids on private construction sites in Baldwin County, Alabama. These operations have detained scores of workers — and at least one U.S. citizen twice — using tactics that civil rights attorneys call “unconstitutional and illegal.”

Key Events

The Raids

Jan 2025 onward: At least 15 construction site raids in Baldwin County, all warrantless
May 21, 2025: Agents raided residential subdivision construction; jumped fences, detained all Latino-appearing workers while ignoring others
June 12, 2025: Additional raids at construction sites
July 23, 2025: 11 arrested at elementary school construction site in Baldwin County
Summer 2025: Nearly 50 workers detained at Gulf Shores and Loxley school construction projects
Feb 11, 2025: Multiple people taken into custody in federal immigration enforcement activity across Baldwin County
May 2, 2026: Plaintiff Leonardo Garcia Venegas detained a third time near his home in Silverhill — physically restrained, handcuffed, shackled, and questioned about birthplace despite holding U.S. citizenship. Counsel filed a declaration in S.D. Alabama citing the pattern to support the pending preliminary-injunction motion (UTV44, May 5, 2026)

The Lawsuit: Garcia Venegas v. Homan

Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a U.S. citizen and concrete worker (Robertsdale/Silverhill, Baldwin County), was detained by ICE three times — May 21, 2025; June 12, 2025; and May 2, 2026 — despite presenting proof of citizenship including an Alabama-issued REAL ID. In each instance agents racially profiled workers, detaining everyone who “looked Latino” while ignoring non-Latino workers.

Filed: September 30, 2025
Case: Venegas v. Homan, 1:25-cv-00397
Court: U.S. District Court, Southern District of Alabama, Mobile Division
Judge: Chief Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock (Trump appointee)
Counsel: Institute for Justice (public interest law firm)
Type: Class-action
Claims: Fourth Amendment violations (warrantless seizure), equal protection (racial profiling)
Seeks: Injunction barring (1) warrantless entry of private construction sites, (2) detention without particularized/individualized suspicion of a specific person, and (3) continued detention of anyone who presents a REAL ID driver’s license

Procedural Developments (May 2026)

May 20, 2026 — Standing ruling: Judge Beaverstock denied DHS’s motion to dismiss, ruling that Venegas has standing to sue. The court held it “must accept the allegations as true” at this stage, found Venegas adequately alleged the three challenged DHS policies, characterized an HSI supervisor’s declaration as “not compelling,” and noted the detentions were repeated rather than isolated incidents.
May 27, 2026 — Preliminary-injunction hearing: Held 10:30 a.m. CDT in Mobile. Venegas and other workers testified; Philip Lavoie, Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Mobile DHS/HSI office, testified for the government. Venegas testified “I don’t feel free.” Beaverstock gave no indication when he will rule. A PI here could constrain warrantless worksite enforcement across the Southern District of Alabama and serve as a national template.

Civil Rights Records Requests

In November 2025, three organizations filed public records requests targeting the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office:

Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama
Center for Constitutional Rights

Requests targeted agreements with ICE, payments received, and documentation of raids on May 21 and June 12.

Economic Impact

Fortune reported that Alabama builders are “rethinking deportations” as raids cause hundreds of immigrant construction workers to disappear from the workforce. The construction industry, heavily dependent on immigrant labor, faces worker shortages as raids continue.

Why This Matters

Baldwin County is a test case for the limits of warrantless workplace immigration enforcement. The Garcia Venegas lawsuit — brought by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning public interest firm — has potential to set Fourth Amendment precedent applicable nationwide. When even right-leaning legal organizations are challenging ICE tactics, the constitutional overreach is extreme. The racial profiling component (detaining all Latino workers regardless of citizenship) adds an equal protection dimension.

Sources

This research is published at The RAMM — investigative reporting on the detention pipeline.

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