Mass deportation agents are now barred from arresting immigrants inside New York courthouses unless they have a federal judicial warrant or order, the state’s Office of Court Administration has ruled. It’s a victory long in the making for immigrant rights advocates, who have called for courthouses to be off-limits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing that arrests at courthouses trample on public trust in the justice system.
“A report by the Immigrant Defense Project said there were 178 arrests in New York state courthouses last year compared to 11 in 2016,” the AP reported, “and advocates have said immigrants are increasingly fearful to visit courts as a result." The group said that “some were appearing in court for traffic violations before immigration agents grabbed them.” In one instance, ICE agents were stalking immigrants outside a human trafficking court in Queens.
Advocates cheered the Office of Court Administration’s rule change. “This rule change is a big win for thousands of immigrants and their families across New York State who will no longer be sitting ducks in the courtroom," said Terry Lawson of Bronx Legal Services. “We can now advise the women, men, and children we represent that ICE cannot arrest them in New York State courts without a warrant with their name on it, signed by a judge."
The distinction between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant is a significant one. Administrative warrants are issued by the Department of Homeland Security, and if an ICE agent holds one up to your door’s peephole, it doesn’t give them the right to come in, period. A judicial warrant, however, must be honored. In a moment caught on video last month, an immigrant rights advocate knew this and saved two friends in his car from ICE arrest.
“New York is the first state in the country to explicitly curtail the ability of federal agents to arrest individuals in this manner,” Gothamist reported. “Every state should enact this reform,” tweeted Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern, writing that “ICE's courthouse ambushes have a horribly detrimental effect on the state judiciary's administration of justice.” There’s momentum for it, too: From nearly 180 Maine attorneys to California’s Supreme Court chief justice, the calls to ice ICE out of courthouses have been loud, consistent, and crystal-clear.