(The Center Square) — A federal judge in New York has ruled that the Trump administration can continue to arrest undocumented immigrants at New York City courthouses while a lawsuit over the practice plays out.
The ruling Friday by U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel sides with the U.S. Department of Justice over immigration advocates who had asked the federal court to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from detaining immigrants who show up for scheduled hearings at a Lower Manhattan federal immigration building.
Castel, a George W. Bush appointee, said he found nothing illegal in a Trump administration policy granting ICE the authority to make an immigration arrest “in or near courthouses” if authorities have credible information to support it.
“The agency stated its reason that courthouses were safe places to effectuate arrests because of security screening,” Castel wrote in the ruling. “It also explained that an alternative safe place to make an arrest, a correctional facility or prison, was not available to it because of state and local policies regarding immigration detainers. Implicitly, the agency asserted its belief that its new policy was better.”
But in a partial win for immigrant rights groups, Castel also issued a stay blocking a Trump administration policy directing immigration judges to dismiss cases so migrants can be quickly picked up by ICE, which he said runs afoul of the law.
A federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups in August asks the court to strike down the Trump administration’s policy of arresting immigrants at immigration court, citing inhumane conditions and lack of due process at holding facilities.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department sued New York state in February over a state law that limits state cooperation with federal immigration authorities and again in June over the Protect Our Courts Act, which the DOJ said “shields dangerous aliens from being lawfully detained” and violates the Constitution by obstructing federal immigration operations. Both cases are still pending.
The DOJ also sued New York City in July over its “sanctuary” policies that restrict cooperation with federal immigration crackdowns, accusing the city of shielding wanted criminals from deportation proceedings.
Nationwide, immigration enforcement actions in courthouses have been a flashpoint in pushback by Democrats and civil liberty groups to Trump’s administration’s immigration enforcement. Advocates, court officials and even some judges have been accused of resisting attempts by ICE to apprehend suspects who show up for court hearings.
The DOJ says arrests in courthouses reduce “flight and safety risks to the public, law enforcement officers, and targets themselves” because individuals are “usually screened for weapons or other contraband before entering a courthouses.”
