Federal Judge Blocks ICE Arrests in Courthouses
A federal judge, appointed by former President Joe Biden, has put a stop to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents making arrests of undocumented immigrants in courthouses. This decision is viewed by law enforcement as protecting a safe environment for these types of arrests.
On Tuesday, Judge P. Casey Pitts, who took office in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 2023, issued an order that halts ICE’s authority to conduct widespread arrests of undocumented immigrants in courthouses nationwide.
“The evidence presented to the court shows that ICE has not provided a reasonable justification for its policies, leading the court to conclude that the challenged practices are arbitrary, capricious, and violate the Administrative Procedure Act,” Pitts noted.
Pitts explained that while preventing ICE from making arrests in court does impose some limitations, it does not entirely stop arrests under “defined circumstances.”
“If the government’s assertion is correct that halting court arrest policies in 2025 will lead to significant disruptions, then it should be able to show evidence of such disruptions stemming from the suspension of these policies within ICE’s San Francisco area since December 2025, or during the previous period when the policies were active. The government has failed to present this evidence,” Pitts pointed out.
Experts assert that courthouse policies are essential to the mass deportation strategies developed during the Trump administration. Arrests on court grounds are generally seen as the safest method for ICE agents to enforce immigration laws.
James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), remarked, “If a judge sentences a defendant, that individual will be detained. A similar approach should apply if an immigration judge orders someone’s deportation. It seems that for a district judge to rule otherwise is part of a broader judicial effort favoring open immigration policies.”
The ruling by Pitts also stops ICE from detaining undocumented immigrants for short times of up to 72 hours, mandating instead that these individuals cannot be held for over 12 hours.
The case in question is Pablo Sequen v. Albarran, no. 25-cv-06487-PCP held in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
