Liberal groups aim to make immigration courts safe haven for illegals

A slate of liberal groups is suing the Trump administration to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from making arrests at immigration courts.

Democracy Forward, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) and other pro-immigrant groups moved to stop ICE and other federal agencies from making apprehensions at immigration courts, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit marks the latest legal challenge against the Trump administration’s widespread crackdown on illegal immigration.

“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,” Skye Perryman, CEO of Democracy Forward, claimed in a public statement. “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.”

“We are witnessing an authoritarian takeover of the U.S. immigration court system by the Trump administration,” Keren Zwick, the director of litigation at the NIJC, said in a prepared statement. “People who attend their hearings to seek permission to remain in this country and comply with U.S. immigration law are being rounded up and abruptly ripped from their families, homes, and livelihoods.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

The new lawsuit represents 12 people, some of whom are gay and living with HIV, who had been arrested at immigration court hearings, according to the lawsuit. The individuals — who were simply identified in documents with initials — typically claimed asylum before their case was dismissed and they were apprehended.

Immediately upon re-entering office, President Donald Trump and his administration implemented several directives aimed at making it easier for ICE agents to arrest illegal migrants. DHS issued new guidance in January that allowed deportation officers to make arrests at so-called “sensitive locations” that were mostly prohibited for them in the past.

The new guidance allowed ICE agents to conduct civil enforcement actions at or near courthouses, according to the agency.

However, Democratic leaders and other activists have long opposed the practice. New York State passed legislation in 2020 barring ICE agents from courthouses and, more recently, a Wisconsin judge was accused of helping an illegal migrant escape an ICE agent from her courtroom.

The Trump administration has pushed back, suing New York State in June over its law and charging the Wisconsin judge with obstruction for her alleged efforts. DHS officials have long argued that courthouse arrests are safe for both agents and individuals being apprehended, as opposed to conducting enforcement actions in the field where there’s a greater chance for violence.

“The ability of law enforcement to make arrests of criminal illegal aliens in courthouses is common sense,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a May public statement. “It conserves valuable law enforcement resources because they already know where a target will be.”

“It is also safer for our officers and the community,” McLaughlin continued. “These illegal aliens have gone through security and been screened to not have any weapons.”