ICE Rewrites Its Courthouse Playbook
The argument: New York's streets are too dangerous for ICE, so its immigration courts are the safer option.
ICE arrested at least five immigrants inside Manhattan immigration courthouses in recent weeks, two at 26 Federal Plaza and three at 290 Broadway, and on Monday filed a court declaration defending the arrests. [39] The moves came despite a May 18 ruling by U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel that barred mass courthouse arrests and forced ICE back to Biden-era 2021 guidelines permitting them only when "a safe alternative location does not exist." [39] ICE's filing now claims New York's sanctuary-city environment makes street arrests untenable because protests and bystanders intervene, making courthouses the "safe alternative." [39] Among those arrested: a man whose only U.S. criminal record was a 2024 trespassing charge from his border crossing, who had since appeared in immigration court three times and complied with all supervision requirements. [39]
“At-large arrests in sanctuary cities like New York tend to trigger protests and intervention by agitators and bystanders, making alternative locations in New York unsafe and [the Executive Office of Immigration Review] the safest location for the arrests.”
“The government cannot reasonably contend that an individual whose sole criminal history stems from a charge arising from his entry into the United States poses a threat to public safety, necessitating his arrest at an immigration courthouse, particularly when he has been fully compliant with immigration authorities since that time.”
- 5courthouse arrests inside Manhattan immigration courts in recent weeks [39]
- 2locations: 26 Federal Plaza and 290 Broadway [39]
- 1of the five had a criminal history limited to a 2024 trespassing charge from his initial U.S. entry [39]
- May 2025Masked ICE agents began walking NYC immigration courthouse hallways; The City Reporter found the practice more concentrated in New York than any other major city [39]
- May 18, 2026Judge Castel ruled against mass courthouse arrests, forcing ICE back to the 2021 narrow-exception guidelines [39]
- TodayICE filed Monday that New York's sanctuary-city environment makes the streets unsafe, classifying its immigration courts as the "safest" arrest location under the existing exceptions [39]
