"A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its Justice Department counterpart from "sweeping" civil arrests at immigration courthouses across Northern California, teeing up an appellate challenge to one of the Trump administration's most controversial deportation tactics. "This circumstance presents noncitizens in removal proceedings with a Hobson's choice between two irreparable harms," Judge P. Casey Pitts wrote in his Christmas Eve decision. "First, they may appear in immigration court and face likely arrest and detention," the judge wrote."
"Authorities have long curbed arrests at "sensitive locations"- such as hospitals, houses of worship and schools - putting them out of reach of most civil immigration enforcement. The designation was first established decades ago under ICE's predecessor agency, Immigration and Naturalization Services. ICE absorbed the prohibitions when the agency was formed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. The policy prohibiting most courthouse arrests was suspended during the first Trump administration and reinstated by President Biden."
A federal judge enjoined Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review from carrying out sweeping civil arrests at immigration courthouses across Northern California, setting up an expected appellate challenge. The judge found that noncitizens in removal proceedings face a Hobson's choice: appear and risk arrest and detention, or avoid court and forgo claims for asylum or other relief. The ruling prevents authorities from lying in wait at routine hearings and effectively restores pre‑Trump limits on courthouse arrests tied to longstanding sensitive‑location protections.
Read at The Mercury News
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