To find all unbanned/unsuspended users with Sentry 2 using Laravel 4, try this method:

User.php

<?php

class User extends Cartalyst\Sentry\Users\Eloquent\User {

	/**
	 * @author Arda Kılıçdağı,
	 * @param $orderBy string how to order
	 * @param $sortBy string Sort like Ascending or Descending, values are asc/desc
	 * @param $toArray boolean whether to return the output as array or not. Default is false
	 *
	 * Access it like: User::activeUsers();
	 * To alter sorting, e.g: to get latest users first: User::activeUsers('user_id', 'desc');
	 * To get output like array, pass the 3rd parameter as true: User::activeUsers(null, null, true);
	**/

	public static function activeUsers($orderBy='first_name', $sortBy='asc', $toArray=false) {
		$out = Sentry::getUserProvider()->createModel()
			->join('throttle', 'throttle.user_id', '=', 'users.id', 'left')
			->where(function($q){
				$q->where('throttle.banned', 0);
				$q->orWhere('throttle.banned', null);
			})
			->where(function($q){
				$q->where('throttle.suspended', 0);
				$q->orWhere('throttle.suspended', null);
			})
			->groupBy('users.id')
			->orderBy('users.'.$orderBy, $sortBy)
			->select('users.*')
			->get();

		if($toArray) {
			$out = $out->toArray();
		}

		return $out;
	}

}

@macliems - Have you tried using something like where('users.first_name', 'LIKE', '%pattern%'); ?