NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A judge barred federal agents from who show up for proceedings in New York City鈥檚 immigration courts, saying that people shouldn’t have to risk arrest to exercise their legal right to pursue an asylum claim or attend a deportation hearing.
A day after the ruling, a 21-year-old man was arrested Tuesday in one of the federal buildings subject to the court order, a group that advocates for immigrant rights said, raising questions about how closely the judge’s decision was being followed.
The order Monday by Judge P. Kevin Castel addressed a practice begun under the Trump administration that people who followed requirements to appear before immigration judges. The arrests resulted in as those being detained were sometimes pulled away from
Castel said in a written decision that while there was 鈥渁 strong governmental interest in enforcing immigration laws,鈥� there also was a serious interest in letting people attend their own court hearings 鈥渨ithout fear of arrest.鈥�
He said federal agents could still detain people at locations away from immigration courts and could also make arrests at courthouses when there are serious threats to public safety.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the arrest that happened Tuesday fell under that exception.
The New York Legal Assistant Group said it would file a legal petition seeking the man鈥檚 release. The organization said it has had lawyers in the hallways of Manhattan buildings for most of the past year.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not shocked that ICE kept their presence in 26 Federal Plaza despite Judge Castel鈥檚 ruling yesterday,鈥� said Benjamin Remy, coordinating senior attorney at NYLAG鈥檚 Immigrant Protection Unit.
Kaye Dyja, a spokesperson with the New York Civil Liberties Union, said it was looking into the arrest and “gathering information鈥� to see if it complied with the narrow rules in which agents could still make arrests.
U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, said the arrest seemed to be a 鈥渂latant violation of a court order.鈥�
鈥淭his is an absolutely outrageous thumb-in-the-eye of our Constitution,鈥� he said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment. In an earlier statement criticizing the judge’s ruling, it said it was 鈥渃ommon sense to take illegal aliens into custody following the completion of their removal proceedings鈥�
鈥淣othing prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them. We are confident we will ultimately be vindicated in this case,鈥� said a statement released by the department.
Castel鈥檚 decision, which did not apply nationwide, pertained to immigration courts at 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street and 290 Broadway in Manhattan. New York鈥檚 FBI headquarters is also located at 26 Federal Plaza, a large building across from two federal courthouses near City Hall.
The judge had previously declined to halt immigration arrests in those buildings, but he changed course after government lawyers informed the court that they learned that certain policies regarding arrests in and around courthouses set by the President Donald Trump’s administration in 2025 did not apply to immigration courts after all.
Castel said the new position by government lawyers meant it was necessary to 鈥渃orrect a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice.鈥�
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the NYCLU, the American Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road NY and others.
It was praised by Amy Belsher, director of the NYCLU’s Immigrants鈥� Rights Litigation.
She called it 鈥渁n enormous win for noncitizen New Yorkers seeking to safely attend their immigration court proceedings.鈥�
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