US judge bars immigration arrests at courthouses
A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration policy that allowed immigration officers to detain people attending court hearings.
Marcus Reeve
Writer ·
A federal judge has barred immigration officers from carrying out arrests inside US immigration courts, ruling against a policy shift introduced under the Trump administration.
According to the Associated Press, the decision found that detaining people as they arrived for hearings raised serious legal concerns and risked deterring others from turning up to their own proceedings.
Background
Courthouse arrests had become a flashpoint in the wider immigration debate, with critics warning they discouraged migrants from engaging with the legal system at all. Supporters argued the tactic was an efficient way to locate people already known to the authorities.
The judge accepted that the practice could have a chilling effect, undermining the basic functioning of a court that depends on people attending voluntarily.
What happens next
The ruling is likely to be challenged, and its scope may be tested in higher courts. For now it limits where and how enforcement officers can operate around immigration hearings.
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