A federal judge in New York has indefinitely blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from making civil immigration arrests at immigration courthouses, ruling that the Trump administration policy that expanded such arrests was invalid.
U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York vacated the Trump administration’s 2025 ICE Courthouse Arrest Policy as it applies to immigration courthouses. The ruling extends a temporary stay Castel issued in May that had largely halted ICE arrests at New York City’s immigration courts.
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Castel found that ICE had acted “arbitrary and capricious” by broadly allowing arrests at immigration courthouses without providing sufficient guidance to officers or explaining why the change was preferable to the previous policy. Under the Biden administration, courthouse arrests were generally restricted to exceptional circumstances involving issues such as public safety, national security or an imminent risk of violence.
The ruling affects immigration courts in New York City, including facilities at 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street and 290 Broadway. The case was brought by immigrant-rights organizations African Communities Together and The Door, which challenged the Trump administration’s expanded courthouse-arrest policies under the federal Administrative Procedure Act and on constitutional due-process grounds.
The case was complicated by an unusual admission from federal attorneys earlier this year. In March, the government acknowledged that an ICE memorandum it had relied on to justify courthouse arrests did not actually apply to immigration courts. The attorneys said they were correcting what they described as a material factual error after receiving incorrect information from ICE.
Federal officials have previously defended courthouse arrests as a safer and more controlled way to take people into custody, noting that individuals entering federal facilities are already subject to security screening. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Gothamist’s request for comment on the latest ruling.
Castel also acknowledged that his decision could raise questions about the scope of federal court authority following a 2025 Supreme Court ruling limiting nationwide injunctions. He said, however, that controlling Second Circuit precedent allows federal courts to vacate unlawful agency actions when agencies violate required administrative procedures.
The ruling is separate from protections governing New York State courthouses, where state law and a federal court order already restrict ICE from making civil arrests on courthouse property or while a person is traveling to, attending or returning from court, unless ICE has a judge-signed warrant.
