On Wednesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced new guidelines on the way they conduct arrests within courthouses. The new policy follows concerns about people who are targeted for deportation being picked up by immigration agents soon after they appear in court for other issues.
The new guidelines will see Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to target undocumented immigrants at courthouses but will avoid also taking their family members and friends into custody unless they attempt to interfere with the ICE action or endanger public safety. ICE agents will no longer carry out enforcement actions in areas like family courts, which are devoted to non-criminal proceedings, without prior permission from supervisors, and will attempt to make arrests away from public view.
Local officials and immigrant advocates have been increasingly worried about the rise in the number of courthouse arrests since President Donald Trump took control of the White House a year ago. They claim that the arrests deter hearing attendance and are discouraging witnesses from giving testimonies about crimes. The number of ICE courthouse arrests in New York jumped to 110 in 2017 from 11 the year before, the advocacy group, Immigrant Defense Project, claims.
ICE says that courthouse arrests are made more often in cities, such as New York, which have shown reluctance to hand immigrants over to federal authorities after their release from jail, and that screenings for weapons make courthouses a safer environment for agents to conduct arrests.