ICE courthouse arrests challenged in NY

Last week New York Attorney General Letitia James and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez filed a lawsuit in federal district court against Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleging its execution of arrests in and around courthouses in New York State violates New York common law, exceeds DHS’s statutory authority, violates the Administrative Procedure Act, and violates the Tenth Amendment. Previously, ICE had a policy of avoiding making arrests in courthouses, which the agency reversed in its “Courthouse Civil Arrest Directive” in 2018.

The complaint alleges that the INA did not abrogate the common law principle prohibiting civil arrests at courthouses because of its intrusive impact on judicial proceedings. “This lawsuit challenges the federal government’s recent unlawful and unconstitutional policy authorizing civil immigration arrests in and around New York State courthouses — a policy that disrupts the effective functioning of our courts, deters victims and witnesses from assisting law enforcement and vindicating their rights, hinders criminal prosecution, and undermines public safety,” it reads. The suit argues the tactics impede on the state’s powers under its constitution, and it seeks to bar ICE from conducting such activities in the future.

MHC