ICE ramps up immigrant arrests in courthouses across U.S.
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A protester holds a sign during a press conference outside Denver's immigration court on June 5. Photo: RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — often dressed in plainclothes — are now arresting immigrants at courthouses nationwide, sometimes moments after their hearings end.
Why it matters: The courthouse crackdown is part of a sweeping Trump administration effort to fast-track removals and increase the number of deportations this year — a strategy that's dramatically expanding who gets targeted and how.
The big picture: The recent ramp-up follows a January policy shift that authorizes ICE to target courthouses for the first time in years — a move advocates say is quietly upending the legal process for immigrants.
- Under the Biden administration, ICE was not allowed to conduct enforcement operations at or near courthouses.
What they're saying: "ICE is now following the law" and placing immigrants in expedited removal, "as they always should have been," a senior Homeland Security spokesperson told Axios.
- Immigrant activists describe it as a trap, warning that courthouses are becoming enforcement zones where due process rights are eroding.
How it works: An immigration court that dismisses the case — often because the Department of Homeland Security withdraws the charges or because the applicant has no active relief from removal — opens the door for ICE to swoop in post-dismissal, no longer restrained by a pending court case.
- These immigrants, if they've been in the U.S. for less than two years, are then arrested on-site and fast-tracked for deportation.
- Failure to appear at court results in a removal order called an "in absentia" deportation order.
Driving the news: Under a February executive order from President Trump, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is now defaulting to issuing Notices to Appear (NTAs) for anyone denied an immigration benefit — including asylum, green cards and work permits.
- The policy change increased the number of NTAs issued by the agency compared to under the Biden administration. ICE and Customs and Border Protection also issue NTAs.
- Someone denied a visa extension can now be swept into removal proceedings, even without a criminal record.
- NTAs are also being issued to immigrants who commit fraud, including giving false information to an employer.
State of play: The policy shift has supercharged the deportation pipeline and contributed to a surge of courthouse arrests across the country.
By the numbers: Federal immigration authorities have launched deportation proceedings against more than 22,100 immigrants since late February, according to new USCIS data out Thursday.
- USCIS is now issuing about 1,840 NTAs every week, including hundreds tied to asylum and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) cases, per new agency figures.
Zoom in: In recent weeks, ICE officers have ramped up arrests in immigration courts in numerous cities, from Seattle and Phoenix to San Antonio and New York City.
- At Denver's immigration court, for example, at least eight immigrants — including two young children — have been detained by ICE in the last two weeks, according to local organizers.
What they're saying: Denver activists say the arrests are fueling fear and signal a collapse of due process.
- "The truth here is that the jackboots of ICE are terrorizing immigrant communities that are trying to take advantage of the due process of law that they are entitled to," Denver immigration attorney Hans Meyer said at a press conference last week.
- Now immigrants are "questioning if the legal way is really the right way," Jennifer Piper, the American Friends Service Committee's Denver program director, added.
What we're watching: With ICE under pressure to triple daily detainments to 3,000, advocates warn more arrests in sensitive locations, including courthouses, are coming.
