A New York State district judge ruled that ICE agents are generally not permitted to arrest people at immigration courts. The decision blocks a policy that had enabled arrests at multiple Manhattan immigration court locations, including 26 Federal Plaza. Federal prosecutors previously relied on an ICE memo to justify the arrests, but later admitted a mistake in interpreting that memo. Prosecutors said ICE provided false information. The judge reversed an earlier 2025 ruling denying an injunction and ordered reexamination to correct clear error and prevent manifest injustice. The ruling affects arrests that had repeatedly detained people who were following court check-in procedures, separating families and limiting access to fight immigration cases.
"A New York State district judge ruled on Monday that ICE agents are typically not allowed to arrest people at immigration courts, blocking a much-decried policy that has become a signature of President Trump's second term. The ruling comes after federal prosecutors admitted in March to making a mistake in how they interpreted an Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo they had repeatedly used to justify the arrests in response to a lawsuit brought by the NYC Civil Liberties Union and others challenging their legality."
"In a 15-page decision, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel reversed his initial ruling from 2025 denying an injunction, effectively halting the unchecked arrests at three immigration courts in Manhattan - at 201 Varick Street, 290 Broadway, and the now infamous 26 Federal Plaza - unless under strict conditions. "Here, defendants' concession that the 2025 ICE courthouse arrest policies never applied to immigration courts warrants reexamination of the prior ruling, both to correct a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice," Castel wrote in the ruling."
"Lower Manhattan's 26 Federal Plaza, a 41-floor building towering over Foley Square, has become an epicenter of immigration court arrests since Trump's return to power, with chilling scenes of families torn apart routinely playing out in the building's windowless hallways. "We've witnessed thousands of New Yorkers showing up to 26 Federal Plaza going to court for their check-in," Murad Awawdeh, the president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition told the Daily News in March. "These are individuals who are literally following the process by the letter of the law, and instead of having the opportunity to fight their cases, they were trapped and detained.""
Read at The Mercury News
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