A federal judge in San Francisco has banned Immigration and Customs Enforcement from making arrests at immigration courthouses in Northern California, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Judge P. Casey Pitts says sweeping arrests at the courthouses puts noncitizens in an impossible situation. They can either to go their immigration hearing but risk arrest or they can skip their hearing and give up on their application for asylum or citizenship.
He called the choice between the two “irreparable harm.”
Jordan Wells of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area told the San Francisco Chronicle that there have been more than 100 immigration arrests at Northern California courthouses and several thousands nationwide.
“People who show up for court expecting to go home at the end of the day shouldn’t have to choose between pursuing their case in immigration court or risking arrest and giving up hope of pursuing the American dream,” Wells said.
The Trump administration is likely to appeal the decision, but the judge could ultimately decide to make his decision apply nationwide.
According to Mission Local, the Trump administration policy of courthouse arrests reverses a longstanding policy.
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