Four D.C. residents and the Maryland-based immigrant rights’ organization CASA sued the Trump administration Thursday, alleging that federal officials violated immigration law by systematically arresting people in the District whom they perceived to be Latino without warrants or probable cause.

The lawsuit follows a sharp surge in immigration arrests across the nation’s capital since President Donald Trump in August seized temporary control of the D.C. police department, mobilized the National Guard and ramped up federal law enforcement. Although Trump said he launched the surge to tamp down on violent crime, immigration enforcement became a highly visible focus.

Federal officers, sometimes working alongside D.C. police, arrested hundreds of immigrants they said were in the United States

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