Immigration court arrests are blocked

A federal judge bars strategy that ICE uses nationwide, stymieing government tactics.

- By Ciara Harter

MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO Getty Images A MAN from Colombia seeking asylum is detained by federal agents as he attends an immigration hearing.

A federal judge in California has issued a ruling banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests inside immigration courts nationwide, blocking one of the Trump administration's strategies for carrying out mass deportations.

When the Trump administration began its crackdown on illegal immigration last year, ICE reversed its previous guidance against making arrests in or near immigration courthouses.

As a result, many people accused of being in the country illegally have been detained and separated from their families when they show up for routine immigration hearings and check-ins.

In Los Angeles, the policy shift led to sweeping arrests at immigration courts, including a teenager who was detained a day after he graduated high school with honors and a father handcuffed in front of his 8-year-old son moments after a judge issued a dismissal of his deportation case.

Immigration attorneys have spoken out against the practice, saying it punishes people who are trying to comply with the rules and turns the justice system into a place of fear. The Department of Homeland Security has argued that courts are a safe and convenient place to detain people who are in the country illegally.