A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration's nationwide policies that dramatically expanded arrests inside immigration courthouses and extended detention periods for migrants in custody.
US District Judge P Casey Pitts of the Northern District of California on Tuesday vacated policies from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement that had removed previous restrictions on courthouse arrests and permitted detainees to remain in short-term holding cells for up to 72 hours. The judge simultaneously struck down a related policy from the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review that had eliminated similar safeguards against workplace and courthouse enforcement actions.
The 71-page decision reinstates restrictions from the Biden administration that had confined arrests at immigration courthouses to narrow circumstances, such as national security threats and imminent danger, and limited detentions in short-term facilities to 12 hours. The case originated with an asylum seeker arrested outside a San Francisco immigration court during a routine hearing.
Judge Pitts found that the Trump administration's policies violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide adequate legal justification for abandoning the previous safeguards. "For 80 years, Congress has commanded federal agencies to think before they act," Pitts wrote, emphasizing that agencies must provide "sound reasons" when reversing course on established rules.
The ruling deals a significant blow to the administration's enforcement strategy, which has accelerated sharply since Trump took office in January. The government has pursued an aggressive deportation campaign, resulting in widespread workplace raids and courthouse arrests as part of its immigration crackdown.
James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, attacked the decision on social media, characterizing it as "naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda."
Author James Rodriguez: "Courts have now placed a speed bump on the administration's courthouse enforcement blitz, but this battle is far from over as appeals and further legal challenges loom ahead."
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