The DOJ Just Admitted ICE Was Arresting People at Courthouses Illegally. DHS: We're Continuing.
The DOJ Just Admitted ICE Was Arresting People at Courthouses Illegally.
The Justice Department told a federal judge this week that the legal memo ICE used to justify hundreds of courthouse arrests "does not and has never applied" to immigration courts. DHS's response: we're continuing anyway.
For months, ICE agents have been arresting immigrants at immigration courthouses — people who showed up for legally scheduled hearings, complying with the law, only to be handcuffed outside the courtroom door. The Trump administration defended this in court using a 2025 ICE memo that it said authorized enforcement actions "in or near courthouses."
This week, the Justice Department told a federal judge that the memo doesn't mean what the government said it meant. It "does not and has never applied" to immigration courts. The DOJ said it "deeply regrets this error." The people already arrested and deported on the basis of this erroneous legal justification remain deported.
DHS's response to the admission: no change in policy. "We will continue to arrest illegal aliens at immigration courts following their proceedings."
How It Happened
The Chain of Errors — Step by StepWhat "Erroneous Information" Actually Means Here
The Legal and Human StakesThe DOJ's admission is more significant than it might appear. For months, a federal judge ruled against the plaintiffs — the court's ruling explicitly said ICE's guidance "allowed arrests at or near an immigration court." That ruling was based on the government's representation of the memo. That representation was wrong.
Now the DOJ says "the court's September 12 opinion and order and the plaintiffs' briefs will need to be reconsidered and re-briefed." Which means the legal foundation for hundreds of courthouse arrests is now in question. But the people who were arrested on that legal foundation — and likely already deported — remain wherever they were sent.
⚠️ The Due Process Problem: Many of these people were showing up to immigration court to request asylum or legal status — not to avoid the law. They complied with their legal obligation to appear. The ACLU says the policy created "a dangerous climate of fear" that discourages immigrants from appearing at court at all — which means fewer people seeking legal status, fewer due process hearings, and more people living in legal limbo rather than engaging with the system.
The Dylan Contreras Case
The Human Face of the PolicyIn May, Dylan Contreras — a 20-year-old New York City public school student from Venezuela with no criminal history — was detained after a routine immigration hearing. He was pursuing a green card. He had no criminal record. He showed up because he was supposed to.
He was detained for months under the policy that the DOJ now admits was based on erroneous legal information. He was released this month. DHS maintained that Contreras "entered the U.S. during the Biden administration" and that ICE was "following the law." His lawyers argued he was seeking asylum. The law that ICE was supposedly following, the DOJ now says, didn't apply.
The DHS Contradiction
"We Regret the Error. We're Continuing Anyway."The most striking aspect of this story isn't the admission — it's the response. The DOJ said "we deeply regret this error" and acknowledged the arrests need to be re-examined legally. The DHS simultaneously announced no policy change and confirmed courthouse arrests will continue.
This means the administration is acknowledging that the legal justification it used for months was wrong — while simultaneously announcing it will keep doing the same thing under a different legal theory. The ACLU called it "another example of ICE's brazen disregard for the lives of immigrants in this country."
The DOJ told a federal judge the legal memo it used to justify hundreds of courthouse arrests never applied to immigration courts. It apologized. The people already arrested — including legal immigrants detained hundreds of miles from home — remain wherever they were sent. DHS says the arrests will continue. The government admitted the legal basis was wrong and is doing it anyway.
Comments
Post a Comment