NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) — A U.S. district judge ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are prohibited from making civil immigration arrests at immigration courts in New York City.
The ruling on Monday comes after the U.S. Department of Justice said ICE agents have no justification for conducting mass arrests at courthouses. A letter from the DOJ apologized and acknowledged the error.
The order is also a result of the case brought by immigration advocates in African Communities Together and The Door v. Todd Lyons, which challenges ICE policies that allow agents to arrest people when they show up to court, preventing them from pursuing their immigration cases.
“Based on our discussions with ICE today, this regrettable error appears to have occurred because of agency attorney error,” the DOJ said in the letter filed in March.
The letter said attorneys for ICE told the court that the agency’s May 27, 2025 memo on civil immigration enforcement near courthouses does not, and has never, applied to enforcement actions in or near immigration courts.
A federal district court on Monday approved a temporary stay in African Communities Together and The Door v. Todd Lyons, the case brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, Make the Road New York and the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward Maazel.
Amy Belsher, the director of Immigrants’ Rights Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union said in a statement: “For nearly a year, we’ve watched masked ICE officers ambush noncitizens in courthouse hallways, throw immigrant New Yorkers to the ground, and tear children from their parents. Now, ICE has admitted that it does not and has never had an explanation or justification for conducting mass arrests at immigration courts. We look forward to a final ruling in the case that sets aside these cruel, pointless policies once and for all.”
Nicole Alarcon is an award-winning digital content producer. She has covered local news for the tri-state area since 2021. She joined PIX11 News in 2026. See more of her work here.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.