Federal judge in New York ties Trump admin hands on arrests at immigration courts

A federal judge on Monday largely blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from carrying out civil immigration arrests at several Manhattan immigration courthouses, after government lawyers admitted they made a “material mistaken statement of fact” defending the policy in court.

U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel ruled ICE officers must temporarily revert to narrower Biden-era restrictions on courthouse arrests while a broader lawsuit proceeds.

The ruling marks a major reversal from Castel’s earlier 2025 decision declining to halt the policy. In March, however, Justice Department lawyers informed the court they needed to correct prior claims that a May 2025 ICE courthouse enforcement memo applied to immigration courts. The government later acknowledged the guidance “does not and has never applied” to immigration courts.

Castel said the reversal justified revisiting the earlier ruling “to correct a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice.”

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Immigrant advocacy groups behind the lawsuit argued the Trump administration’s enforcement policies effectively turned mandatory immigration hearings into arrest operations, with migrants allegedly detained by ICE agents immediately after court proceedings.

Castel wrote plaintiffs were likely to succeed in arguing the administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it rescinded a 2021 ICE policy restricting courthouse arrests without adequately explaining how the new policy applied to immigration courts.

The judge emphasized the ruling does not fully prohibit courthouse arrests. ICE may still conduct enforcement actions involving national security threats, imminent violence, hot pursuit situations or threats to criminal evidence.

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“Today’s ruling is an enormous win for noncitizen New Yorkers seeking to safely attend their immigration court proceedings,” said Amy Belsher, director of immigrants’ rights litigation at the NYCLU.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for comment but did not immediately receive responses.