A federal judge in California has issued a nationwide block against the Trump administration’s policy of making arrests at immigration courts. This ruling puts an end to a practice that garnered national attention, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would detain migrants in courthouse hallways across the country, sometimes moments after they pleaded their cases.
Background of the Ruling
The Trump administration had rescinded long-held guidance that limited immigration enforcement in or near courthouses, arguing that the previous guidance hampered the ability of immigration enforcement officers to apprehend dangerous individuals. However, Judge P. Casey Pitts found that the policy was “arbitrary and capricious” and had a “chilling effect” on noncitizens attending court proceedings.
Jordan Wells, a senior staff attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, applauded the ruling, stating that “the courthouse is meant to be a refuge for the pursuit of justice, not a hunting ground for ICE.” In contrast, Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival criticized the ruling, calling it “naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda.”
Original reporting: KCCI Des Moines — read the source article.
