Judge Limits ICE Arrests At Courts

U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel on May 19 barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement from carrying out most civil immigration arrests in and around New York City immigration courts while a federal lawsuit proceeds. The order applies to three Manhattan locations — 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street and 290 Broadway — where immigration proceedings are held. Castel said the government’s March 24 correction of a “material mistaken statement of fact” required him to revisit part of his September 2025 ruling. The case was brought by African Communities Together and The Door, two New York nonprofit groups challenging Trump administration courthouse-arrest policies. ### What exactly did Judge Castel block? Castel’s stay bars civil immigration arrests on immigration courthouse grounds except in limited circumstances, including serious threats to public safety or national security, imminent violence, hot pursuit, or threats to destroy criminal evidence, according to accounts of the order and advocacy groups involved in the case. The ruling restores the practical effect of narrower 2021 ICE guidance while the litigation continues. (news.bloomberglaw.com) The order does not stop ICE from making arrests away from courthouses. Bloomberg Law reported that the stay remains in place pending the outcome of the lawsuit over Department of Homeland Security policy on arrests of noncitizens appearing for scheduled hearings. ### Why did the judge reverse an earlier ruling? March 24, 2026 became the turning point in the case when Justice Department lawyers told the court they needed to correct a “material mistaken statement of fact” made in prior briefs and at oral argument. (nyclu.org) The lawyers said a May 27, 2025 ICE memorandum — repeatedly cited to justify arrests at immigration courts — “does not and has never applied” to immigration courthouse arrests. (news.bloomberglaw.com) September 2025 was when Castel had previously refused to halt the arrest practice, relying in part on the government’s representation about that 2025 guidance. In his new order, he wrote that the government’s concession “warrants reexamination” of the earlier ruling “to correct a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice,” Bloomberg Law reported. (courthousenews.com) ### Which policies are being challenged in the lawsuit? August 1, 2025 was when African Communities Together and The Door sued Todd Lyons, Kristi Noem, Sirce Owen and Pamela Bondi in their official capacities in the Southern District of New York. The suit challenges interim and final 2025 ICE guidance that broadened when civil immigration arrests could occur in or near courthouses, and also challenges a related Executive Office for Immigration Review dismissal policy. (news.bloomberglaw.com) The plaintiffs argue the courthouse-arrest policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act and due process protections by discouraging immigrants from appearing in court and by interfering with opportunities to seek asylum or other relief, according to the complaint descriptions from Bloomberg Law and the ACLU. ### Who brought the case, and what are they saying now? (courtlistener.com) The New York Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road New York and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward Maazel represent the plaintiffs. NYCLU Immigrants’ Rights Litigation Director Amy Belsher said the ruling was “an enormous win for noncitizen New Yorkers seeking to safely attend their immigration court proceedings.” (news.bloomberglaw.com) Beth Baltimore, deputy director of The Door’s Legal Services Center, said the decision brought “hope” to young members who had been afraid to attend required hearings. The advocacy groups said ICE officers had been “largely prohibited” from courthouse arrests in the city as the case moves forward. (nyclu.org) ### Did the ruling immediately stop courthouse arrests? May 20 brought a new test of the order when a man was arrested a day after the ruling outside New York immigration courts, according to the Associated Press. AP said the arrest raised immediate questions about how the new limits would be applied. CBS News and NBC, citing the ruling, said federal agents can no longer make arrests without exceptional circumstances in and around the three Manhattan buildings where immigration proceedings occur. (nyclu.org) Those reports described the decision as an abrupt halt to a practice that had allowed agents to take into custody people appearing for required hearings. (apnews.com) ### What happens next in court? April 30, 2026 was when Castel set a new briefing schedule after the government changed its position. According to the docket, the plaintiffs’ moving submission is due May 22, the defendants’ opposition is due June 12, and the plaintiffs’ reply is due June 26. The case remains pending in the Southern District of New York as African Communities Together and The Door press for a final ruling against the courthouse-arrest policies. (cbsnews.com) For now, Castel’s stay governs ICE conduct at the three Manhattan immigration court locations named in the order. (news.bloomberglaw.com) (pacermonitor.com)