Judge blocks broad ICE arrests at immigration courts in Manhattan 

MANHATTAN (CN) — A federal judge restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to make broad arrests at city immigration courthouses, kneecapping the agency’s mass immigrant detention campaign at three courts in Manhattan.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel, a George W. Bush appointee, had initially greenlit the practice last year. But after federal prosecutors admitted in March that ICE had misled them about the legality of arresting immigrants at their court appearances, Castel issued a 15-page order on Monday reversing his stance.

Now, only “under certain enumerated circumstances” will ICE be permitted to make arrests at three Manhattan immigration courts in Manhattan — 201 Varick Street, 290 Broadway and the now infamous 26 Federal Plaza — the judge ruled.

ICE had repeatedly argued that an agency guidance memo from May 2025 justified its arrests of people outside of immigration courtrooms — which until the second Trump administration, have historically been discouraged.

But in March, federal prosecutors apologized to Castel for a “material mistaken statement of fact that the government made to the court.”

The memo “does not and never has” applied to arrests at immigration courts, the government conceded — only to other courthouses. The government blamed the mistake on “agency attorney error.”

Castel said he relied heavily on that erroneous guidance in greenlighting the practice last year.

“Here, defendants’ concession that the 2025 ICE courthouse arrest policies never applied to immigration courts warrants reexamination of the prior ruling, both to correct a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice,” Castel wrote.

New York Civil Liberties Union lawyer Amy Belsher — representing a group of plaintiffs suing the government over the arrests — said in March that the government’s error led to countless detentions that may have otherwise been blocked by the court.

“In the months since the court relied on the government’s representation to deny plaintiffs preliminary relief, defendants have continued arresting noncitizens at their immigration court hearings, resulting in their detention — often in facilities hundreds of miles away,” she said at the time.

The underlying case was brought by immigration groups African Communities Together and The Door, who cautioned the court that ICE choosing to make detentions at immigration courthouses discourages dutiful attendance of court hearings.

“These profoundly unfair practices undermine the rule of law and the integrity of immigration courts by effectively turning mandatory court hearings into traps,” the groups claim in their 2025 lawsuit.

Castel initially declined their bid for an injunction to halt the practice. But now, armed with the knowledge that ICE’s claims were erroneous, Castel found the agency actually doesn’t have any internal rules justifying its explosion of immigration court detentions over the past year-and-a-half.

The only arrests that are justified are those that involve a threat to national security or public safety, pose an imminent risk of violence or involve an imminent risk of evidence destruction in a criminal case, Castel ruled.

Additionally, the nonprofits’ interests outweigh that of the government, the judge found.

While he noted there “is a strong government interest in enforcing immigration laws,” he said the plaintiffs’ interests outweigh that since “ICE retains the ability to pursue civil enforcement actions at locations other than immigration courts.”

In a statement to Courthouse News, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said they are “confident we will ultimately be vindicated in this case.”

“It is commonsense to take illegal aliens into custody following the completion of their removal proceedings. Nothing prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them," they said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the plaintiffs, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Castel’s ruling undermines the practice that has become a controversial centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement.

Many viral videos have captured it in action, particularly at 26 Federal Plaza, Manhattan’s largest immigration court that also includes a makeshift short-term ICE detention facility.

In one instance, then-New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested at the facility last summer while trying to escort someone through a crowd of ICE agents following their court hearing. In another, ICE agents shoved and injured a photojournalist while making an arrest in the building’s 12th floor hallway.

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