Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s arrests of illegal immigrants at courthouses have caused an uproar among left-wing activists, and now a coalition of groups has sued the Trump administration seeking to halt the practice.
The class action lawsuit filed by left-wing immigration groups in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia claims the Justice Department and ICE have coordinated to arrest noncitizens at immigration courts in what they describe as a violation of the noncitizens’ rights under immigration law and the Fifth Amendment.
The lawsuit cited multiple cases in which noncitizens appeared for their hearings in immigration court, where ICE officers would take the illegal immigrant into custody outside of the courtroom. The practice is part of the Trump administration’s wider effort to increase deportations by rescinding Biden-era policies that had restricted where federal immigration officers could detain illegal immigrants.
The class action lawsuit seeks an injunction blocking ICE from arresting illegal immigrants at immigration courts, arguing it causes “severe” consequences for the noncitizens appearing at their hearings.
“Noncitizens, including most of the Individual Plaintiffs here, have been abruptly ripped from their families, lives, homes, and jobs for appearing in immigration court, a step required to enable them to proceed with their applications for permission to remain in this country,” the lawsuit alleged.
The Trump administration’s increased arrests of illegal immigrants outside courtrooms have caused significant uproar among Democrats and left-wing advocacy groups, with one of the groups backing the lawsuit, Democracy Forward, calling it an “unlawful scheme.”
“The Trump-Vance administration is weaponizing immigration courts by threatening people who follow the law and appear for their hearings as directed by the court. This unlawful scheme will chill participation in the legal process and violates the fundamental principles of due process and fairness that underpin our legal system,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement about the lawsuit.
ICE did not return a request for comment on the lawsuit.
The Department of Homeland Security has previously defended reversing the Biden-era policies that restricted arrests at immigration courts.
In a May memo, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons argued that conducting arrests at or near courthouses “can reduce safety risks to the public, targeted alien(s), and ICE officers and agents,” noting people who appear at courthouses are usually screened for “weapons and other contraband.”
Lyons also argued that local jurisdictions refusing to cooperate with ICE regarding illegal immigrant arrests make arrests near courthouses necessary.
“Enforcement activities in or near courthouses are often required when jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with ICE, including when such jurisdictions refuse to honor immigration detainers and transfer aliens directly to ICE custody,” the memo said.
One high-profile arrest of this kind came in April outside a Milwaukee court, when federal law enforcement officers arrested Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant, despite Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly helping Flores-Ruiz and his attorney evade immigration officials by exiting her courtroom out of a back door.
A week after the incident, Dugan was arrested and charged with obstruction by federal prosecutors. The indicted judge is seeking to dismiss the case, arguing she has judicial immunity for her “official acts,” which she claims were part of her job.
TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO END TPS FOR MULTIPLE COUNTRIES TIED UP IN LEGAL BATTLES
The lawsuit over immigration court arrests filed Wednesday is the latest effort by left-wing activists to curb federal immigration officers’ ability to arrest illegal immigrants.
In a Los Angeles federal court last week, a judge granted an injunction preventing officers from relying on apparent race, language spoken, location, or job as sole reasons to inquire about a person’s immigration status. The DOJ had appealed the order, claiming it “threatens to hobble lawful immigration enforcement.”