ICE flouts rules: report Feds still making courthouse arrests, say immig advocates
Federal immigration agents have continued to make deportation arrests at state courthouses in New York despite official restrictions and an ongoing lawsuit challenging their authority, according to a new report.
Not even a clear directive last year from the New York State Unified Court System has been enough to deter Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from surveilling and arresting immigrants without judicial warrants in and around courthouses across the state, said advocates at the Manhattanbased Immigrant Defense Project.
ICE agents have virtually ignored courthouse rules, skirting an arrest warrant requirement by sweeping up undocumented targets at entrances and exits, or following their prey outside before slapping on the cuffs, the report said.
“Although judges, prosecutors, defenders and hundreds of communitybased organizations have come together to call for an end to this harmful practice, ICE is sending a clear message that it has no problem interfering with the court system to achieve its deportation agenda,” said Mizue Aizeki, deputy director of the Immigrant Defense Project.
Aizeki is helping legislators push a bill, the Protect Our Courts Act, to outlaw ICE arrests without a judicial warrant in or around all courthouses in the state. Bill supporters plan an 11 a.m. rally Tuesday at the state Capitol in Albany to drum up support.
According to the Immigrant Defense Project report, “Denied, Disappeared, and
Deported: The Toll of ICE Operations at New York’s Courts in 2019,” there were 127 arrests.
In 2016, the year before President Trump took office and launched a more aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants, there were 11 courthouse arrests across the state, according to the report.
Last April 17, state courts issued a directive limiting ICE courthouse arrest practices. Among the requirements was for ICE to provide a judicial warrant to make an arrest inside a courthouse.
“Our concern is the smooth and efficient operation of the New York State court system and the safety and security of all who use the courthouses, judges, litigants and jurors,” said state court spokesman Lucian Chalfen.
But ICE, quickly finding a loophole, issued its own directive the very next day, instructing agents that “we are good to make the arrest outside the courthouse with or without a judicial warrant.”
“In the vast majority of operations, ICE agents refused to identify themselves, explain why an individual is being arrested, or offer proof that they have reason to believe that the individual they’re arresting is deportable,” the report said.
An ICE representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.