For years during the Trump administration, reports of arrests in courthouses across the country were persistent and spurred local leaders, including the chief justice of California’s Supreme Court, to speak out, arguing that arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement would dissuade witnesses like Cha’s from appearing at court proceedings.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration will issue a policy that sharply limits the immigrants whom ICE officers can arrest at courthouses after years of criticism of the practice, according to government officials and documents. The policy also applies to US Customs and Border Protection officials as well.
“Ensuring that individuals have access to the courts advances the fair administration of justice, promotes safety for crime victims, and helps to guarantee equal protection under the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “The expansion of civil immigration arrests at courthouses during the prior administration had a chilling effect on individuals’ willingness to come to court or work cooperatively with law enforcement. Today’s guidance is the latest step in our efforts to focus our civil immigration enforcement resources on threats to homeland security and public safety.” The policy will allow ICE officers to make civil immigration arrests in or near a courthouse only when it involves a national security matter, a risk of imminent death or harm to anyone, or a hot pursuit involving a public safety threat. Officers may also make an arrest at a courthouse if it appears evidence in a criminal case will be imminently destroyed, and they may request to make an arrest of a public safety threat if there is no safe alternative and they get approval from agency leaders.
The policy will also apply to interviews, surveillance, and subpoenas handed out at or near courthouses.
“The courthouse is a place where the law is interpreted, applied, and justice is to be done. As law enforcement officers and public servants, we have a special responsibility to ensure that access to the courthouse — and therefore access to justice, safety for crime victims, and equal protections under the law — is preserved,” the policy reads.
