In a Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel determined that federal arrests cannot be conducted without exceptional circumstances in and around three Manhattan immigration courts. The ruling does not apply to immigration courts nationwide.The decision effectively ends the practice that started last year under the Trump administration. The practice was heavily criticized by Democrats in June 2025, when ICE briefly arrested then-New York City Comptroller Brad Lander while escorting out of immigration court a defendant whom ICE officers wanted to detain.
In delivering the ruling, Castel, a George W. Bush appointee, said while there was “a strong governmental interest in enforcing immigration laws,” there was also a serious interest in letting immigrants attend removal proceedings and pursue asylum claims in a court “without fear of arrest.” He previously declined to ban the practice until this week.
Federal arrests at immigration courthouses in Manhattan, however, can still be conducted if there are serious threats to public safety. Also, Castel didn’t forbid federal agents from detaining immigrants away from immigration courts in New York City.
The Department of Homeland Security disputed the ruling.
