IMMIGRANTS FILE CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT TO STOP ICE COURTHOUSE ARRESTS
ICE prosecutors have surprised some immigrants by asking judges to dismiss their cases when they show up, a legal maneuver that allows ICE agents waiting outside courtrooms to arrest the migrants and place them in deportation proceedings without hearings.
The lawsuit argues that this recently adopted practice violates federal immigration laws and the Constitution. ICE has also arrested migrants even when judges have not dismissed their cases, the lawsuit argues.
The suit argues that the new tactic is deterring people from showing up for appointments at immigration courts, which differ from criminal courts and are where judges typically decide whether undocumented immigrants can remain in the country.
“The Trump-Vance administration is weaponizing immigration courts by threatening people who follow the law and appear for their hearings as directed by the court,” said Skye Perryman, the president and chief executive of Democracy Forward.
Democracy Forward, a liberal-leaning group that has taken dozens of legal actions against the Trump administration, filed the lawsuit with the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Justice Department and Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
