CHIRLA v. DHS (Registration Rule) - District Court

[ARCHIVED - September 2025]

Plaintiffs are four membership-based non profit organizations––Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (“CHIRLA”), United Farm Workers of America (“UFW”), CASA, and Make the Road New York (“MRNY”)––challenging the interim final rule issued by DHS, the “show me your papers” rule, that requires noncitizens to register with the federal government and carry proof of their registration at all times or else face a criminal prosecution in the form of a fine or time in jail. Plaintiffs argue that rule failed to go through the required procedures when announcing its plans to enforce the rule, failed to solicit and address public comments about the process (which as written Plaintiffs allege is confusing and will lead to widespread chaos), and is otherwise unlawful and will irreparably harm Plaintiff organizations and their members.

On the same day they filed their complaint, Plaintiffs also filed a motion for a stay or, in the alternative, a preliminary injunction to postpone the effective date of the interim final rule until the resolution of this case. After briefing and oral argument, Judge McFadden denied that motion, holding that they had failed to prove their standing.

On April 24, 2025, the Plaintiffs subsequently moved for an injunction pending appeal, pointing out that federal prosecutions under the registration statute have begun and providing pseudonymous declarations from the members of the plaintiff organizations to prove standing. On June 12, 2025, Judge McFadden denied Plaintiffs’ motion once again, finding that although they remedied his concerns regarding standing, they did not show that plaintiff organizations would be irreparably harmed by the policy they’re challenging.

On June 18, Plaintiffs filed a renewed motion for a stay or preliminary injunction, seeking a formal denial order incorporating the Court’s most current reasoning to facilitate Plaintiffs’ appellate review of the decision. Likewise, on June 18, Plaintiffs filed a motion for expedited summary judgment briefing.

Plaintiffs filed an appeal of the Court’s denial of their renewed motion for a stay or preliminary injunction to the D.C. Court of Appeals.

On July 10, 2025, the Court denied Plaintiffs’ motion for expedited summary judgment briefing and administratively stayed future proceedings in the case given the pending appeals at the D.C. Circuit.