San Francisco, California - A federal judge has barred US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from arresting people at immigration courthouses nationwide, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump's mass deportation drive.
The ruling applies across the US and halts a practice under which ICE officers have arrested migrants in and around immigration courts, including before their legal proceedings had been completed.
Immigration courts handle cases involving migrants facing possible deportation.
ICE began carrying out courthouse arrests across the country last year, a practice critics said undermined due process and discouraged migrants from attending hearings.
In the ruling, issued by a federal judge in California, the court said ICE had changed its approach at the start of Trump's second term and introduced new guidelines that highlighted the benefits of courthouse arrests for immigration enforcement.
The judge said the agency had failed to adequately address concerns about the potential negative effects of the policy or provide a reasoned explanation for the change, making the new practice legally vulnerable.
"And because the record before the Court demonstrates that ICE and [the DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review] failed to provide reasoned explanations for their actions, the Court concludes that each of the challenged policies is arbitrary and capricious in contravention of the [Administrative Procedure Act]," the ruling reads.
"The Court therefore grants plaintiffs’ motions for partial summary judgment and vacates the challenged policies in full."