Federal Court Strikes Down ICE\u2019s Courthouse Arrest Policy Nationwide <\/p>\n
\n NEW YORK \u2013 In a momentous victory for immigrants\u2019 rights, today the Southern District of New York issued a final, landmark ruling in African Communities Together and The Door v. Todd Lyons striking down one of the Trump administration\u2019s most extreme policies that allowed ICE agents to arrest people for showing up to immigration court. With this ruling, ICE officers cannot conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near immigration courthouses, except under limited circumstances, in New York City and across the nation.
\n\u201cToday\u2019s ruling is an enormous win for every noncitizen seeking to safely attend their immigration court proceedings,\u201d said Amy Belsher, director of Immigrants\u2019 Rights Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union. \u201cFor too long, we watched masked, often armed, ICE officers ambush noncitizens in courthouse hallways, throw immigrants to the ground, and tear sobbing children from their parents. But with today\u2019s order, the court made clear: ICE\u2019s cruel, unjustified policy of conducting mass immigration arrests in courthouses is unlawful and cannot stand.\u201d
\nThe court\u2019s order found the government\u2019s mass immigration court arrest policy \u201carbitrary and capricious\u201d under the Administrative Procedure Act and restores pre-existing policies barring immigration courthouse arrests except in rare circumstances. Originally, the case also challenged a related 2025 Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) policy that urged immigration judges to dismiss noncitizens\u2019 immigration proceedings without proper procedural protections. In this order, the court dismissed that claim as \u2018moot,\u2019 because the government had already fully and permanently rescinded it as result of an earlier order in this case.
\n\u201cPeople should not be arrested for doing exactly what the legal system requires of them,\u201d said Oscar Sarabia Roman, staff attorney with the ACLU\u2019s Immigrants\u2019 Rights Project. “They should be able to come to court, take part in their cases, and leave without fear.\u201d
\n\u201cImmigrant New Yorkers should not have to choose between attending a required immigration hearing and risking detention, or staying away and risking a deportation order for failing to appear,\u201d said Katie Rosenfeld, partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. \u201cThis ruling restores important safeguards and makes clear that ICE cannot abandon those protections without a reasoned explanation. Due process requires a meaningful opportunity to be heard, and that means people must be able to come to court without fear.\u201d
\n\u201cThe court\u2019s ruling is a monumental victory for immigrant families and the rule of law. It brings to an end the cruel and callous practice of arresting immigrants simply for showing up to their court hearings \u2014 something that no one should have to worry about, and yet so many were forced to live under that cloud of fear,\u201d said Harold Solis, co-legal director at Make the Road New York. \u201cToday marks a turning point, and our focus now shifts to doing everything in our power to ensure the government fully complies with the court\u2019s decision.\u201d
\nThe New York Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road NY, and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel originally filed this lawsuit on behalf of African Communities Together and The Door on August 1, 2025. Soon after, the groups asked for expedited relief through a stay, which the court partly denied in September 2025. But then, in a shocking revelation in March, the government admitted that a 2025 memorandum \u2014 which it had relied on throughout the case to justify its immigration court arrest policy \u2014 does not and has never authorized any immigration courthouse arrests. Immediately after, the organizations asked the Court to reconsider its denial, and the court issued a stay. This final federal ruling affirms that order, and expands it to apply nationwide. It is effective immediately.
\nToday\u2019s ruling also builds on the resounding victory from the ACLU of Northern California, in Pablo Sequen v. Albarran, which similarly struck down the Trump administration\u2019s policy of arresting immigrants at courthouses nationwide.
\nSince Trump took office, ICE has mounted an unprecedented campaign of arresting people at their mandated immigration court hearings, and then trying to fast track their deportation. This includes Dylan, a 16-year-old Bronx high school who ICE arrested when attending a routine court date, and Oliver Mata Velazquez, a 19 year old living in Buffalo who ICE targeted, detained, and fast-tracked for deportation.
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\n\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\n Court Case: African Communities Together v. Lyons\n <\/p>\n
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