A federal judge in California has halted the Trump administration’s policy allowing immigration authorities to arrest migrants at courthouses, issuing a nationwide order that temporarily stops the practice.
The policy, introduced last year, enabled Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to detain migrants inside or around immigration courts, often immediately after their hearings.
The move drew widespread criticism from lawyers who argued that the immigration courts were turning into zones of fear due to the practice, and people were being discouraged from attending court proceedings.
The ruling is a significant setback for the Trump administration, which had reversed earlier restrictions on immigration enforcement at or near courthouses. The administration had defended the policy, saying it gave ICE greater flexibility to detain individuals considered a threat to public safety.
In his 71-page ruling, Judge P Casey Pitts said ICE’s courthouse arrest policy had a “chilling effect" on migrants seeking legal relief, describing it as “arbitrary and capricious."
“The courthouse is meant to be a refuge for the pursuit of justice, not a hunting ground for ICE. No immigrant, whether appearing in San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, or New York, should be forced to choose between their liberty and their day in court," Jordan Wells, senior staff attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of San Francisco, told CNN.
