U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts of the Northern District of California also limited how long the Trump administration can hold noncitizens in temporary detention facilities.Show Caption
A federal judge in California issued an order on Tuesday, June 23, blocking the Trump administration from arresting non-American citizens at immigration courthouses and limiting how long noncitizens can be held at short-term facilities.U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts’s order comes in response to a case brought in the Northern District of California over Immigration and Customs Enforcement arresting noncitizens attending immigration court proceedings. The case challenges the agency’s practice of holding noncitizens for sometimes days in facilities without a bed or other adequate accommodations.In a 71-page order, Pitts slammed the Trump administration policy of making arrests at immigration court as having a "chilling effect" that threatened to undermine the nation’s immigration system. He dismissed arguments that immigrants with solid legal cases had nothing to fear from the Trump administration directive to make arrests at courthouses. "The proper functioning of the immigration system depends on such noncitizens attending their scheduled removal proceedings," Pitt wrote. "Thus, the chilling effect of courthouse arrests could undermine the proper enforcement of immigration laws even if it affected only noncitizens likely to be removed at the end of the process."Pitt also noted that witnesses testified that the Trump policy of holding immigrants in facilities meant for only 12-hour detention had resulted in "inhumane" conditions. Noncitizens have testified about similar conditions at supposedly temporary ICE detention facilities around the country.The Department of Homeland Security's top attorney called the judge's order "judicial activism.""When a judge sentences a defendant, the defendant is taken into custody. If an alien is ordered removed by an immigration judge, the same should happen. A district judge ordering otherwise is naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda," DHS General Counsel James Percival said in a statement.ICE under Trump has made widespread use of the practice of arresting noncitizens making routine appearances in immigration court. According to the case brought in California, the Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement arm had turned "immigration courthouses and routine reporting check-ins into dragnet arrest operations."The administration has also made widespread use of holding noncitizens for sometimes days at a time in facilities that do not have beds or limited access to food and restrooms.Immigration advocates around the country celebrated Pitt’s ruling.U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) called it "excellent news.""Immigrants who show up to court — “the right way” — have been targeted by this administration," the El Paso-area representative said in a statement. "So glad to see this blatantly illegal and cruel policy struck down."
