Civil rights groups sue over ICE courthouse arrests
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San Francisco civil rights groups are suing the Trump administration over immigration officials' courthouse arrest tactics and accusing them of detaining immigrants in "punitive and inhumane" conditions, steamrolling their rights to due process.
Why it matters: The lawsuit is one of the latest legal challenges to the policies of the Trump administration, which ended a Biden-era prohibition on civil immigration arrests in and around courthouses while tripling U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's (ICE) arrest quota.
Driving the news: The class action lawsuit alleges that federal officials are violating the law when they "lurk outside of courtrooms, violently ambush immigrants ... and immediately whisk them away."
- Immigrants who expect a "neutral forum" to make their case must "either risk immediately and arbitrarily losing their freedom or lose their opportunity" to remain in the U.S., per the complaint.
Zoom in: Those detained at ICE's San Francisco Field Office further endure days in "small, cold rooms, sometimes with hardly enough space to sit, let alone sleep," the lawsuit alleges.
- Some plaintiffs were "forced to sleep on metal benches or directly on the floor ... with nothing more than a thin plastic or foil blanket or a thin mat," per the suit.
- They were kept for days without access to legal counsel, hygiene supplies or medical care, including prescriptions, and forced to urinate and defecate in front of each other, the complaint claims.
What they're saying: "Converting required hearings into a trap in this manner undermines the public's basic expectations of a fair day in court," states the complaint, which was filed in the Northern District of California.
- The plaintiffs are represented by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and ACLU NorCal, among others.
The other side: "Nothing in the constitution prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them," Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, told Axios via email.
- The tactic "conserves valuable law enforcement resources," she added.
- McLaughlin also rebutted allegations of subpar conditions at ICE detention centers, countering that all detainees are provided with "proper meals, medical treatment, and ... opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members."
Between the lines: ICE arrests in SF came to a head earlier this summer when federal agents were seen using pepper spray and pushing through a resisting protest crowd in an SUV carrying a detained immigrant.
- The incident led to calls for the city to bolster protections against ICE and scrutiny over how local police interact with federal agents, who are often in masks or plainclothes.
- ICE leadership says agents wear masks because of instances where they and their families were doxxed.
The big picture: ICE officers had arrested over 100 people in San Francisco as of Thursday, mostly at ICE's downtown field office or the city's immigration court, Mission Local reports.
- The agency recently changed its 12-hour holding limit to allow up to 72 hours of detention at field offices.
- The crackdown on deportations has led to a surge in arrests of people without criminal charges.
What we're watching: Attorneys for the plaintiffs have asked the court to bar ICE agents from continuing their tactics in San Francisco and immediately release their clients from custody.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to note that Mission Local reports that ICE officers had arrested more than 100 people in San Francisco as of Thursday (not as of June).