Migration officers began to arrest illegal immigrants even in the courthouses

Photo: twitter / ICE @ICEgov

Over the past few weeks, attorneys and prosecutors in California, Arizona, Texas and Colorado have been faced with the fact that ICE agents - in uniform and in civilian clothes - began arresting immigrants who are in the country illegally, right in court.

So, when the lawyer Octavio Chaydez was leaving the courtroom in Pasadena with a client, four men jumped around the corner and rushed to them. They asked the lawyer for the name of the client, after which they took out the badges of the migration officers and arrested the client.

Chaydez has been working as a lawyer in Los Angeles County for almost 15 years, but he has never seen ICE agents detain and arrest in court.

Meanwhile, ICE officials are defending this tactic, saying that they make arrests in the courts only when the remaining options are exhausted.

But activists, lawyers and prosecutors are afraid that an increase in the number of arrests in court buildings may adversely affect the detection of crimes. This means that migrants who do not have a legal status will not want to testify and appear in court as witnesses.

The ICE office said agents avoid arrests in schools, cultural sites and hospitals. But the rules do not apply to the court.

In recent months, ICE agents have arrested several suspects in a court building in Portland, Oregon, and North Carolina, who have been convicted of sexual offenses, drug trafficking and drunk driving. The suspect, who was detained in court in Pasadena, had a criminal record for drugs.

While some were detained for a violent past, others were arrested for lack of legal status. February 9 was delayed a woman who sought protection in court against domestic violence. Agents arrested a woman outside the courtroom.

Lucia Camarena, assistant district attorney in El Paso, said that after this incident several other women did not dare to go to court to seek protection from violence, fearing deportation.

"It's a truly horrific situation," Lucia Camarena said. “I cannot feel safe and expect help from the justice system because now I have a real threat of being deported.”

Some law enforcement officials in California and across the country have repeatedly expressed concern that Trump's promise to significantly expand immigration laws would undermine community confidence in the local police.

Recently, ICE activities have caused concern among some judges, a Times official told on condition of anonymity. At the end of February, the 3 judges organized a meeting with the workers and asked to be monitored and warned if anyone noticed ICE agents in their courtrooms.

However, judicial officials are not allowed to interfere with the work of ICE staff, even when they are in district courts.

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