U.S. Judge Blocks Nationwide ICE Arrests in Immigration Courts

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts of the Northern District of California issued a nationwide injunction that halts the Trump administration’s policy allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to make arrests inside immigration courthouses and hallways. In a 71‑page opinion, Pitts declared the policy “arbitrary and capricious,” emphasizing its chilling effect on non‑citizens’ willingness to attend court proceedings. The ruling overturns guidance that had previously limited ICE enforcement near courthouses and expands on an earlier New York decision that barred such arrests in that city.

The decision was praised by immigrant‑rights groups, with Jordan Wells of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights calling courthouses “refuges, not hunting grounds.” Department of Homeland Security counsel James Percival denounced the ruling as “judicial activism.”

In the same news round‑up, the National Labor Relations Board ordered Amazon.com to bargain with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters representing workers at a San Francisco delivery facility, citing the company’s failure to recognize a union that had won majority support. Amazon said it would appeal the NLRB’s decision.