Judge blocks Trump govt from making arrests at immigration courts

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Two men are detained by plainclothes officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after their court hearings, in a hallway at New York-Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York City on June 6, 2025. The New York-Federal Plaza Immigration Court falls under the jurisdiction of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a sub-agency of the US Department of Justice. US President Donald Trump has made deporting undocumented immigrants a key priority for his second term, after successfully campaigning against an alleged “invasion” by criminals. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

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A federal judge in California on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from making arrests at immigration courts across the United States.

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Since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Homeland Security agents have adopted the tactic of waiting outside immigration courts nationwide and arresting migrants as they leave at the end of asylum hearings.

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Missing an immigration court hearing is a crime in some cases and can itself make migrants liable to be deported, leaving many with little choice but to attend and face arrest.

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US District Judge P. Casey Pitts ruled that the policy violated the Administrative Procedure Act and called it “arbitrary and capricious.”

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Pitts said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) “failed to provide reasoned explanations for their actions,” adding that their presence in courtrooms had a “‘chilling’ effect.”

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James Percival, general counsel at Homeland Security, criticized the ruling, saying that a noncitizen ordered to be deported by an immigration judge should be treated the same as a defendant convicted of a crime.

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“A district judge ordering otherwise is naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda,” he said on X.

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Trump has tested the limits of executive power to crack down on foreigners without papers, arguing that the United States is being invaded by criminals and other undesirables.

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AFP

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