Federal Judge Orders Homeland Security to Stop Arresting Immigrants at Courts In Northern California

"A federal judge who previously ruled that conditions at San Francisco's ICE facility are inhumane for the detention of immigrants, has now temporarily halted all arrests of immigrants at courthouses in Northern California and the Pacific Islands, citing lack of due process and violations of civil rights. It will likely be appealed by the Trump administration, and it represents just a small piece of the massive deportation machine that the administration has built over the last 11 months,"

"In a 67-page order, first reported on by Mission Local, Judge Pitts ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a class-action suit, , that was brought by the ACLU and a partner firm in October. The suit, which challenges DHS's "re-detention" policy for immigrants previously released by the courts pending individualized determinations in their cases, was brought on behalf of three undocumented people, Frescia Garro Pinchi, Juany Galo Santos, and Jose Teletor Sente."

""In May 2025, DHS officers began re-arresting and re-detaining noncitizens whom DHS had previously released which has resulted in a staggering wave of arrests," Pitts writes. "News reports cited by plaintiffs suggest that DHS has re-detained hundreds, if not thousands, of other noncitizens in recent months in ICE's San Francisco area of responsibility alone... [and] While the extraordinary pace and scale of the change to DHS's re-detention practices are clear, the reasons for it are not.""

US District Judge Casey Pitts issued a temporary halt on ICE arrests at courthouses in Northern California and the Pacific Islands, finding due-process and civil-rights violations. The order prevents Homeland Security from using immigration courts as sites to re-arrest and re-detain noncitizens previously released while their cases proceed. The ruling resulted from a class-action challenge to DHS's re-detention policy filed on behalf of three undocumented individuals. Judge Pitts highlighted a sudden, large-scale wave of re-arrests beginning in May 2025 and criticized the lack of explained justification for the policy change.

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