A federal judge halted a Trump administration policy on Friday that ordered immigration judges to dismiss cases quickly to allow for the illegal immigrants to be picked up by federal immigration officers after hearings.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel ruled that the Trump administration’s policies for arresting illegal immigrants at courthouses are not unlawful. However, he did rule that the immigrant advocate groups suing showed the necessary harm to halt a May Justice Department directive to immigration judges to allow for the speedy dismissal of immigration cases the government asks to dismiss so that federal immigration officers can make quick arrests.
“The public interest is served when the enforcement of a governmental policy found not likely to be in accordance with law is stayed.” Castel, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said in his ruling staying the order in Manhattan and the Bronx.
The ruling is a mixed bag for immigration activists and the Trump administration, with part of the administration’s “dismiss and arrest” immigration enforcement policy now halted in New York. However, the judge did find the Trump administration’s arrest policies at courthouses were likely lawful, saying the immigration activists failed to show the Trump policies were “unexplained, arbitrary and capricious changes” from the Biden administration’s policies.
“The agency stated its reason that courthouses were safe places to effectuate arrests because of security screening. It also explained that an alternative safe place to make an arrest, a correctional facility or prison, was not available to it because of state and local policies regarding immigration detainers. Implicitly, the agency asserted its belief that its new policy was better,” Castel wrote in the ruling.
The Trump administration ditched Biden-era policies that largely prevented arrests of illegal immigrants at courthouses, a change that the judge upheld. The policy, which pushed immigration judges to accept government motions to dismiss cases quickly without the usual 10-day response time from the other side to facilitate arrests, was halted Friday.
The ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday was another instance of federal courts intervening in immigration and deportation policies since President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year.
HOW TRUMP’S DEPORTATION AGENDA IS BEING STALLED IN COURTS
Immigration courts, which hear immigration cases, are under the DOJ, which is in the executive branch, while federal courts, such as the Southern District of New York, are not. Under the law, immigration courts are largely responsible for immigration and deportation challenges, but in recent months, federal courts have intervened in immigration as Trump pursues aggressive deportation policies.
The Trump administration has faced legal headaches with its attempts to deport some groups of illegal immigrants quickly, which resulted in the high-profile battle over Kilmar Abrego Garcia, along with its efforts to end temporary protected programs for noncitizens from various countries, including Haiti. The administration’s arrests in court have been a tactic widely criticized by immigration activists. One state judge ended up with federal charges against her for allegedly attempting to obstruct the arrest of an illegal immigrant.
