Groups want judges to stop courthouse immigration arrests

BOSTON (AP) — Civil rights and indigent defense groups asked Massachusetts’ highest court Thursday to stop federal agents from arresting immigrants targeted for deportation at courthouses, saying the practice is scaring victims, witnesses and others away from halls of justice. The petition filed in the Supreme Judicial Court cites immigrants – including a woman who wants to renew a restraining order against her abusive ex-husband – who are too afraid to enter state and local courthouses out of fear of deportation. The challenge, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, comes as advocates, attorneys and judges have complained about courtroom arrests under President Donald Trump. Courtroom arrests happened under President Barack Obama’s administration but attorneys have said the pace appears to have picked up under Trump. “When people fear our judicial system, that undermines the very fabric of our society and weakens communities,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, one of the groups that filed the petition on the immigrants’ behalf. Despite pressure from advocates to declare courthouses “sensitive locations” generally free from immigration enforcement, federal officials in January formalized a policy to send agents to federal, state and local courthouses to make arrests. Sensitive locations where enforcement is generally avoided include schools, hospitals and places of worship. ICE says it is targeting convicted criminals, gang members and public safety threats at courthouses as well as immigrants who have been previously deported or ordered to leave. Officials say family, friends and witnesses in court won’t be arrested – absent “special circumstances.” ICE says it will “generally avoid” immigration enforcement in non-criminal courthouses, like family court. Trump administration officials have also said that courthouses are a safer place for agents to make arrests since visitors typically have to go through metal detectors. ICE Spokesman John Mohan said Thursday that the agency does not comment on pending litigation as a matter of policy. But Mohan said ICE’s enforcement action in courthouses is “wholly consistent with longstanding law enforcement practices nationwide.” He said jurisdictions’ unwillingness to transfer immigrants in local prisons and jails to ICE custody often necessitates courthouse arrests. Last month, more than 100 New York City public defenders walked out in protest of their clients getting detained by immigration officials, with one lawyer saying ICE agents are “trolling” the courthouse. And the chief justice of the California Supreme Court last year complained in a letter to top federal officials that ICE agents were “stalking” courthouses to make arrests.