Over the past year, hundreds of people have been arrested while going to immigration court with legal asylum or citizenship cases. It turned out that Immigration and Customs Enforcement lied about its authority to make arrests in immigration court, according to a court filing. Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jeffrey Oestericher revealed in a court filing Tuesday that a memorandum the government relied on to support the arrest of hundreds of immigrants appearing in immigration courts “does not and has never authorized” those courts to take civil immigration enforcement actions.This stems from a lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union and various other civil rights groups challenging the government’s practice of dismissing asylum and citizenship cases and en masse rounding up law-abiding immigrants at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City and other immigration courts across the country.Prosecutors wrote that the government would withdraw several briefs based on the memo, as well as certain statements made during oral arguments in federal court in September. Oestreicher wrote that U.S. District Judge P Kevin Castel’s previous order may need to be “reconsidered and renotified.” In September, Castell ruled that ICE can make arrests in courthouses, making it more difficult for judges to dismiss cases.
ICE’s fault, not DOJ’s
Ostrich claimed the error came from ICE, not the Justice Department. “ICE specifically informs the undersigned that the 2025 ICE Guidelines apply to immigration court arrests. Additionally, we discussed and obtained approval from our assigned ICE counsel prior to filing each brief in this case and making any oral submissions to the court and plaintiffs,” Oestericher wrote.
“This is indeed a bombshell”
Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who was running for mayor of New York City in June and was detained by ICE while trying to escort an immigrant out of a lower Manhattan courthouse, said the news was explosive. “According to documents filed this morning by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, for a year, ICE lied not only to the public, but also to courts and prosecutors about its authority to make arrests at 26 Federal Plaza and other immigration courts,” Rand wrote on the X website on Wednesday. “This is truly a bombshell. All courthouse arrests should stop immediately. Congress should initiate investigations and civil rights actions into every case of illegal kidnapping of immigrants who attempt to follow the rules and appear in court.“