California plaintiff in lawsuit challenging immigration raids arrested by ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday arrested a plaintiff involved in a class action lawsuit challenging raids in Los Angeles, prompting concerns from lawyers of retaliation and calls for his release.

Isaac Antonio Villegas Molina, a Pasadena resident, was detained Thursday during a check-in with ICE, according to his immigration lawyer, Stacy Tolchin. Villegas sued the federal government last year, after he and two other day laborers were arrested by immigration agents on June 18 as they waited at a Pasadena bus stop.

An immigration judge ordered Villegas, who is from Panama, released on a $5,000 bond the following month and he’s been checking in with ICE since then, Tolchin said. Villegas had been scheduled to go before an immigration judge on April 24, on a motion to terminate removal proceedings against him.

Following Villegas’ arrest on Thursday, Tolchin filed a habeas petition in federal court, challenging his incarceration and demanding his immediate release. In it, Tolchin described the lawsuit as “one of the first cases filed challenging the Trump Administration’s immigration roving patrols as violative of the Fourth Amendment.” She had not been given a reason for the re-detention.

“I think 100% it is because of this lawsuit,” Tolchin said. “He was incredibly brave to come forward and to be a plaintiff. ... To be targeted because he is pursuing his rights is unacceptable, but not surprising given what we’ve been seeing.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-17/california-plaintiff-in-lawsuit-challenging-immigration-raids-arrested-by-ice