A federal judge ruled this week that immigration agents conducting a raid must announce themselves in the language of the intended targets.
The changes are part of a lawsuit settlement against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the suit, in 2007, ICE agents had raided the homes of eight Latino families in New York. They had no warrants or legal justification for doing so.
Among the settlement agreements against ICE, the judge said that agents on a raid must ask for consent to enter a property in a language understood by those inside. Spanish-speaking agents must also be present to ask for the consent, the judge ruled.
The lawsuit was brought as a class action suit seeking $1 million in damages. The ruling applies to ICE agents across the nation.
ICE officials would not comment for this story.