Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stand at a protest against the treatment of detainees at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, N.J. in May. On Tuesday, a judge in California ruled that ICE can no longer make arrests at immigration courts. File Photo by Olga Fedorova/EPA
June 24 (UPI) -- A California federal judge issued a nationwide block against the government policy of arresting people at immigration courts and detaining them for more than 12 hours in short-term facilities.
U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts wrote in his opinion Tuesday that the policies were "arbitrary and capricious" and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. He said the lawyers representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't give "reasoned explanations for their actions."
"ICE is not arresting individuals who appear for criminal or civil violations 'unrelated' to the arrest but instead arresting noncitizens based on the very immigration offenses for which the noncitizens are appearing in immigration court," Pitts said in his opinion.
The policy is "based on a false premise" that ICE had properly rescinded past guidance on arrests at immigration courthouses from 2021, and "fails to provide a rational explanation" for removing limits on civil enforcement actions at immigration courts.
