Legal advocates file lawsuit to stop large-scale immigration court arrests by ICE
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department and ICE says the arrests of thousands of people at court have stripped them of rights afforded to them under U.S. immigration law and the Fifth Amendment.
The large-scale immigration court arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants. In what has become a familiar scene, a judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings against an immigrant while ICE officers wait in the hallway to take them into custody.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit, said the Trump administration is "weaponizing" immigration courts and chilling participation in the legal process.
"People seeking refuge, safety, or relief should not be arrested, detained, and deported without a chance to be heard and given due process," Perryman said in a statement.
Messages seeking comment from ICE, Homeland Security and the Justice Department were not immediately returned. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the courts, declined to comment.
President Donald Trump has pledged to deport the most dangerous criminals in the largest deportation program in American history to protect law-abiding citizens, but government data on the detentions show that the majority of people detained by ICE have no criminal convictions.
The lawsuit represents 12 people who have been arrested at court hearings, along with the Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative and American Gateways, which provide legal services to people who face potential arrest and deportation when they comply with their immigration proceedings by attending a court hearing.
Some of the immigrants have lived in the United States for years and were separated from family members, some who were U.S. citizens, without notice, the lawsuit said. Others fled persecution in their home countries and requested asylum. But those requests were quashed when the government lawyer dismissed their case.
Priyanka Gandhi-Abriano, interim CEO for Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative, said the arrests are a deliberate attempt to intimidate people.
"Our friends, neighbors, and families are told to 'do it the right way' — to follow the legal process," Gandhi-Abriano said in a statement. "They're doing just that — showing up to court, complying with the law. Despite this, they're being arrested and detained."
Homeland Security officials have defended the practice, saying the Trump administration is implementing the rule of law after former President Joe Biden's "catch and release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets."
They said if a person has a credible fear claim, they can continue in the immigration proceedings, but if not claim is found, they'll be subject to swift deportation.
Keren Zwick, director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center said, "We are witnessing an authoritarian takeover of the U.S. immigration court system by the Trump administration."
The people attending the hearings to seek permission to stay in the U.S., but they're being rounded up and "abruptly ripped from their families, homes and livelihoods."
"Meanwhile, the administration is issuing directives telling immigration judges to violate those same immigration laws and strip people of fundamental due process rights," Zwick said. "We must continue fighting to overcome the administration's escalating attacks on the U.S. Constitution and rule of law."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CBS' ‘Tracker' Sees Departures Of Series Regulars Eric Graise and Abby McEnany Ahead Of Season 3
CBS' missing persons drama Tracker just got a bit smaller. As reported by Deadline's sister site, TVLine, yesterday, the Justin Hartley vehicle saw the departures of series regulars Eric Graise (computer expert Bobby Exley) and Abby McEnany (business handler Velma Bruin), leaving Hartley's one-man-operation Colter Shaw and Fiona Rene's lawyer Reenie Green as the sole stars going into Season 3. (Fellow original cast member Robin Weigert, who portrayed Velma's wife Teddi Bruin, as well as the backend of Colter's operation, left the series after Season 1.) More from Deadline Former 'Late Show' EP Rob Burnett Reflects On Stephen Colbert Cancellation: "Never Threaten A Corporate Merger" Late-Night TV Is On The Precipice After CBS Axes Stephen Colbert; Insiders Lament "End Of An Era" Skydance's David Ellison Meets With FCC Chairman Brendan Carr To Discuss Paramount Merger And Company's "Commitment to Unbiased Journalism" Based on the bestselling novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver, Tracker stars Hartley as Colter Shaw, 'a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family,' per the official logline. The series has been a major draw for the network, landing in the Top 5 of Nielsen's 35-day most-watched shows across all streaming and linear series, alongside fellow standout Matlock, back in May. Per CBS data, the show is also No. 1 in broadcast. Tracker was renewed by CBS alongside other drama and ratings mainstays Elsbeth, Fire Country and its three NCIS series back in February. In the dramatic conclusion to Season 2, Colter finally uncovered the mystery man behind his father's killer, but not without unfolding a series of questions, including his mother's involvement in the death. The drama is produced by 20th Television, with Deaver producing alongside EPs Hartley, Ken Olin, Elwood Reid, Connie Dolphin, Sharon Lee Watson and Alex Katsnelson. Best of Deadline Streamer Subscription Prices And Tiers – Everything To Know As Costs Rise And Ads Abound (Hello, Peacock) - Update 'Stick' Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series
Los Angeles Times
11 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Immigration arrest outside Oregon preschool rattles parents
BEAVERTON, Ore. — Parents at a preschool in a Portland suburb are reeling after immigration officers arrested a father in front of the school during morning drop-off hours, breaking his car window to detain him in front of children, families and staffers. 'I feel like a day care, which is where young children are taken care of, should be a safe place,' Natalie Berning said after dropping off her daughter at the Montessori in Beaverton on Friday morning. 'Not only is it traumatizing for the family, it's traumatizing for all the other children as well.' Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old chiropractor and citizen of Iran, was initially pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers while driving his child to the school Tuesday. After asking whether he could drop off the child first, he continued driving and called his wife to tell her what happened, according to his wife, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of privacy concerns for her and her child. His wife rushed to the school, took their child from his car and brought him inside. Khanbabazadeh stayed in the vehicle in the parking lot and asked whether he could move somewhere not on school grounds out of consideration for the children and families, his wife said. He pulled out of the lot and onto the street and began to open the car door to step out when agents broke the window and took him into custody, according to his wife. Kellie Burns, who has two children attending the preschool, said her husband was there and heard the glass shatter. 'More than anything we want to express how unnecessarily violent and inhumane this was,' she said. 'Everyone felt helpless. Everyone was scared.' ICE said it detained Khanbabazadeh because he overstayed his visa, which his wife disputes. 'Officers attempted to arrest Khanbabazadeh during a traffic stop when he requested permission to drop his child off at daycare,' ICE said in a statement. 'Officers allowed him to proceed to the daycare parking lot where he stopped cooperating, resisted arrest and refused to exit his vehicle, resulting in ICE officers making entry by breaking one of the windows to complete the arrest.' Immigration officials have dramatically ramped up arrests across the country since May. Shortly after President Trump took office in January, his administration lifted restrictions on making immigration arrests at schools, healthcare facilities and places of worship, stirring fears about going to places once considered safe spaces. After U.S. military strikes on Iran in June, officials trumpeted immigration arrests of Iranians, some of whom settled in the United States long ago. Khanbabazadeh's wife said he has always maintained lawful status. After he arrived on a valid student visa and they subsequently married, she said, they submitted all required paperwork to adjust his status and were waiting for a final decision following their green card interview months ago. Khanbabazadeh is being held at the ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Wash., she said. Guidepost Global Education, which oversees the Montessori school, called the incident 'deeply upsetting.' 'We understand that this incident raises broader questions about how law enforcement actions intersect with school environments,' Chief Executive Maris Mendes said in a statement. 'It is not lost on us how frightening and confusing this experience may have been for those involved — especially for the young children who may have witnessed it while arriving at school with their parents.' Parents said they want to support the family and teachers. 'We know it's happening across the country, of course, but no one is prepared for their preschool ... to deal with it,' Burns said. 'It's really been a nightmare.' Rush writes for the Associated Press.
CBS News
12 minutes ago
- CBS News
Japanese American internment survivors protest possible ICE detention center at former Dublin prison
With the rhythmic pounding of taiko drums echoing through Don Biddle Community Park, a large group of Japanese Americans and their allies gathered Saturday afternoon to voice opposition to the proposed reopening of the federal prison in Dublin as an immigration detention center. Among those in attendance was 81-year-old Satsuki Ina, a survivor of the Japanese American internment camps during World War II. Ina, who was born in the Tule Lake Segregation Center in Northern California, has dedicated her life to ensuring the mistakes of the past are not repeated. "I'm angry, I'm angry," Ina said. "It's frightening. It's terrifying that this is happening again." Ina's parents were removed from San Francisco's Japantown in 1942 and incarcerated in multiple internment camps over a span of four and a half years. Her older brother, Kiyoshi, was born in the Topaz camp in Utah. Her father was later transferred to a separate detention facility in North Dakota. "When we were removed, there was no mass protesting of what was happening to us," she said. "In many ways, we felt like America had turned their back on us. We don't want to be a part of that again. So we are showing up where we can. We're raising our voices. We're protesting. We're getting the grannies and the grandpas out to tell their stories." For Ina, other survivors, and their descendants, the proposal to convert the now-closed Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Dublin into a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility feels like a haunting echo of history. "It is a replication of our own history," Ina explained. "They're using the same legal false justification, removing people without due process." FCI Dublin was shut down last year after multiple correctional officials, including the former warden, were convicted of sexually abusing female inmates. Despite its troubled history, the Trump administration recently floated the idea of reopening the prison to hold undocumented immigrants. The president is also pushing to reopen Alcatraz in the San Francisco Bay to house ICE detainees. Dr. Doug Yoshida, the son of two internment camp survivors, voiced concern over the types of individuals targeted for detention and deportation. "The people they're deporting are not the big, bad criminals," Yoshida said. "They clean your hotel rooms, they serve your food. They [build] these buildings here." Alameda County District 5 Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas also joined the protest. She warned against what she called an authoritarian direction for the country. "We have to raise our voices. This is authoritarianism. This is a dangerous road that our country is going down," said Bas. "And we have a responsibility, not only as elected officials, but members of this community, to stand up and speak out." For Ina, silence is not an option. "There is a growing discontent about what's happening," she said. "We want to get people activated so that they take action, whether it's voting or getting out on the streets and protesting." Organizers said they will continue to oppose the reopening of the Dublin facility, arguing that expanding detention capacity in Alameda County could lead to more arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants.
