Federal agents arrested three individuals at immigration courts in New York City over the past week, which lawyers claim violates two federal judges' orders prohibiting such arrests. On Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained an Ecuadorian man at 26 Federal Plaza and a Dominican man at 290 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. A third man from Guatemala was arrested on Monday at the same location.
Advocates from the nonprofit Make the Road New York filed legal challenges against these detentions, arguing that ICE is infringing on the individuals' rights and disregarding a federal court order. This order restricts ICE from making arrests at Manhattan immigration courts except under specific circumstances. A similar ruling from a California federal court applies nationwide.
Representative Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) stated that ICE is violating the law by arresting immigrants attending their court hearings and is working to secure the release of the detained individuals. Murad Awawdeh, head of the New York Immigration Coalition, expressed concerns about ICE's actions, suggesting they are acting outside the law.
ICE has denied violating any court orders but did not clarify how the arrests align with the exceptions outlined by the federal judge. The three men arrested have been transferred to detention centers, with the Dominican man held at ICE’s Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, the Ecuadorian man at the D. Ray James ICE Processing Center in Georgia, and the Guatemalan man at the Orange County Detention Facility in New York.
Prior to these arrests, there had been a period of reduced ICE activity at Manhattan immigration courts following a May 18 ruling by Judge Kevin Castel that reinstated a policy limiting courthouse arrests. Advocates have noted an increase in ICE detentions, raising concerns about the impact on immigrants' rights and their ability to navigate the legal system.