On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted that it could not guarantee undocumented immigrants, coming forward because they have witnessed or been the victim of a crime, would not be arrested by immigration authorities. The comments, during a news briefing by David Lapan, the spokesman for the DHS, come as local officials become increasingly concerned by courthouse arrests. They fear the practice will prevent undocumented immigrants from cooperating with law enforcement.
Lapan claims that some witnesses and victims may themselves be criminal immigrants who have been previously deported from the US, or who pose a threat to national security. Lapan also pointed out that special US visas, known as U visas, exist for undocumented immigrants who are victims of crimes such as domestic violence and sexual assault, tens of thousands of which are available every year.
Lapan insists that courthouse arrests have sometimes become necessary. This is because of the lack of cooperation local jurisdictions give to immigration authorities, refusing to alert them when releasing potentially deportable undocumented immigrants before they can be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The practice was also defended last month, in a letter from John Kelly, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, to the California Supreme Court’s chief justice. It declared that there was a substantial reduction of risk to officers arresting people in courthouses due to weapon-screening on entry.