Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration Arrests of Immigrants at Courthouses

Summary

A federal judge in California dealt a significant legal setback to the Trump administration Tuesday, ruling that its policies allowing immigration arrests inside and around courthouses were unlawful. U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts, sitting in the Northern District of California, issued a 71-page opinion finding that multiple Trump administration immigration enforcement policies were arbitrary and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The ruling targets a practice that immigrant advocates have long argued chills access to justice, since people with pending civil or criminal cases face the prospect of arrest simply by showing up to court. Judge Pitts's opinion is unusually detailed for an injunction, suggesting a judge who anticipated appellate scrutiny and wanted to build a durable record. The administration is expected to appeal. The courthouse arrest policy was one of several early enforcement postures the Trump administration adopted to signal a harder line on immigration, and it has faced legal challenges in multiple jurisdictions. Tuesday's ruling is among the more sweeping judicial checks on that enforcement posture so far.