A federal judge, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, says federal immigration agents arresting criminal illegal aliens at New York state courthouses is “illegal.”
United States District Court Judge Jed Rakoff ruled on Wednesday that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must not arrest criminal illegal aliens as they are leaving court in New York. He wrote:
Specifically, the Court declares ICE’s policy of courthouse arrests … to be illegal, and hereby enjoins ICE from conducting any civil arrests on the premises or grounds of New York State courthouses, as well as such arrests of anyone required to travel to a New York State courthouse as a party or witness to a lawsuit.
Attorneys for New York state and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez had filed suit against ICE for arresting criminal illegal aliens at courthouses. In 2019, ICE agents took 173 illegal aliens into custody at courthouses. In 2018, they arrested 107 illegal aliens at courthouses.
The attorneys and Gonzalez complained that illegal aliens had become stricken with fear.
“According to plaintiffs, not only do these immigration arrests make certain parties and witnesses fear coming to court, but the temporary chaos they create disrupts court proceedings and makes it impossible for judges to do their jobs effectively,”
The court ruling could have widespread implications on ICE’s already limited ability to arrest and deport illegal aliens. Last year, ICE agents arrested more than 143,000 illegal aliens and deported nearly 268,000 illegal aliens. There remain anywhere between 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the U.S.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. The case number is 19-cv-8876.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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