What Happened to ICE Courthouse Enforcement Blocked?

The practice of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducting civil immigration arrests at courthouses has been a focal point of legal and political debate for several years, primarily due to concerns about undermining access to justice. Historically, internal ICE guidance in 2014 and 2015 limited courthouse arrests to individuals suspected of terrorism, organized crime, or those posing a serious public safety risk. A subsequent revision in 2018 under the first Trump administration formalized a policy permitting such enforcement actions, arguing they could reduce safety risks.

This policy was reversed in April 2021 by the first Biden administration, which issued new guidance banning civil immigration enforcement at or near courthouses, with only narrow exceptions for national security threats, imminent danger, hot pursuit, or destruction of evidence. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated this was to combat a 'chilling effect' on individuals' willingness to engage with the legal system.

However, with the inauguration of the second Trump administration in January 2025, these protections were largely rescinded. The administration overturned Biden-era policies, allowing ICE agents to resume widespread arrests in courthouses, schools, hospitals, and other 'sensitive locations'. This led to a significant increase in courthouse arrests across the country, with Massachusetts alone reporting 614 arrests in 2025 and 137 in the first two months of 2026. Civil liberties groups and immigrant advocates quickly challenged these expanded policies, arguing they violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by failing to provide reasoned explanations for the policy shifts and creating a climate of fear that deterred immigrants from attending mandatory court hearings.

Key turning points in 2026 have seen federal courts push back against the Trump administration's approach. In February 2026, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey filed legislation and issued an Executive Order to protect sensitive locations, including courthouses, from ICE arrests. The Massachusetts House of Representatives further advanced the PROTECT Act in March 2026, aiming to limit civil arrests in state courthouses by requiring a judicial warrant.

Most recently, in May 2026, U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel in New York banned ICE from making arrests in or around three federal courthouses in lower Manhattan, citing ICE's own admission that it lacked justification for its mass arrest program in these locations. This ruling reinstated the 2021 Biden-era guidance for those specific New York City immigration courts. Building on this, on June 23, 2026, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts in the Northern District of California issued a nationwide ruling, vacating the Trump administration's policies that expanded courthouse arrests and extended temporary detention limits to 72 hours. Judge Pitts found these policies to be 'arbitrary and capricious' and 'devoid of rational explanation' under the Administrative Procedure Act, effectively reinstating the more restrictive Biden-era policies that limit arrests to specific, narrow circumstances and cap temporary detentions at 12 hours. This nationwide injunction marks a significant legal victory for immigrant rights advocates, though the Department of Homeland Security has criticized the ruling as 'naked judicial activism'. The current status, as of June 24, 2026, is that ICE's broad authority to conduct civil immigration arrests at courthouses nationwide has been blocked, and the agency must adhere to the more restrictive 2021 guidance, pending further legal appeals or new, properly reasoned policy directives from the administration.