Setback for Trump administration: California judge blocks policy of arresting people at immigration courts

A California federal judge on Tuesday (local time) issued a nationwide injunction blocking the US President Donald Trump administration's policy of carrying out arrests at immigration courts, ending a practice that had gained national attention.

The ruling comes roughly a year after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) started detaining migrants in courthouse hallways across the country, sometimes moments before they pleaded their cases, CNN reported. The move raised alarms among attorneys and advocates, who noted that the practice was turning immigration courts from places of due process into places of fear and of punishing those who were following the rules.

What did the court say?

Tuesday's ruling marked a major setback for the Trump administration, which revoked long-held guidance that had imposed restrictions on immigration enforcement actions at or near courthouses. In a 71-page ruling, federal Judge P. Casey Pitts acknowledged the "chilling effect" of ICE's policy to arrest at immigration courts, finding that it was “arbitrary and capricious.”

Pitts, a district judge of the Northern District of California, vacated ICE's policies that had revoked previous strictures on arrests at immigration courthouses and allowed detainees to be held in short-term cells for up to 72 hours.

Pitts said, "For the avoidance of doubt, simply extending the 2025 courthouse-arrest policies to cover immigration courthouses would not cure those policies’ fatal defects. As the Court has previously detailed, the policies entirely fail to address the chilling effect of courthouse arrests on noncitizens’ attendance at court proceedings, which is both a critical factor underlying ICE’s 2021 guidance and an ‘important aspect of the problem’ in its own right."

He also noted, "In sum, ICE’s 2025 courthouse-arrest policies are devoid of rational explanation for (or even acknowledgement of) the agency’s choices (1) to remove its earlier restrictions on civil arrests at immigration courthouses and (2) not to extend the new policies’ limitations to immigration courthouses."

According to a Reuters report, Pitts did the same for a similar policy undertaken by the Department of Justice (DOJ)'s Executive Office for immigration review and removed limits on courthouse arrests.

DHS's remark on court ruling

In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) General Counsel James Percival weighed in on the ruling, saying: “When a judge sentences a defendant, the defendant is taken into custody. If an alien is ordered removed by an immigration judge, the same should happen. A district judge ordering otherwise is naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda.”

Trump administration ramps up crackdown on immigrants

Since Trump took office last year for his second term, his administration has ramped up its crackdown on immigrants and arrested those suspected of being in the country illegally as part of an aggressive deportation push.

According to the White House's website, border security continues to be a top priority, with the administration imposing tougher enforcement, closing loopholes, and restoring operational control of the southern border. In 2025, illegal crossings declined as resources were redirected to enforcement, removals accelerated, and cooperation with state and local partners expanded.

The White House added that by prioritising enforcement and accountability, the administration is restoring integrity to the immigration system and ensuring the law is applied consistently. These efforts protect American workers, reduce strain on local communities, and reinforce the nation’s right to control its borders and determine who enters the United States.

In 2025, the US had negative net migration in 2025, making it the first time in at least 50 years. The administration has deported over 605,000 illegal aliens, with an additional 1.9 million self-deporting, bringing the total number of illegals who have left the country since Trump returned to office to over 2.5 million.