Trump loses challenge to NY law barring state courthouse ICE arrests

(CN) — The Trump administration has lost its challenge to a New York law that blocks federal immigration authorities from making arrests at state courthouses.

U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino, a Barack Obama appointee in the Northern District of New York, dismissed the government’s lawsuit against the Protect Our Courts Act, a 2020 state law enacted in the wake of heightened Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity that took place during President Donald Trump’s first term.

In a 41-page ruling filed late Monday night, D’Agostino rejected the government’s claims that the law is an affront to the Constitution, finding that the 10th Amendment permits states to make their own decisions regarding assisting federal immigration enforcement.

“To hold to the contrary would improperly elevate the concerns of the federal sovereign over that of a state and deprive New York of its essential ability to protect its sovereign interests in the face of undue federal interference,” the judge wrote.

The government sued over the law in June, claiming New York state was intentionally obstructing federal agents’ apprehension efforts of “dangerous criminals.”

“Conducting an arrest at or near a courthouse often reduces the risk of flight and safety risks to the public, law enforcement officers, and targets themselves, in part because individuals are usually screened for weapons or other contraband before entering a courthouse,” the government claimed in its initial complaint, justifying the practice.

The Trump administration argued it’s not up to the state at all thanks to the Constitution’s supremacy clause, which mandates that federal law reigns supreme over state statutes.

But D’Agostino ruled to the contrary, finding that “New York is not attempting to regulate federal agents and it is not prohibiting the federal government from enforcing immigration law.”

“Rather, it is simply defining, as a proprietor, what activities are not permissible in state-owned facilities,” the judge continued. “Such conduct does not run afoul of the intergovernmental immunity doctrine.”

D’Agostino added that ICE’s own past guidance used to deter this kind of behavior from federal authorities.

“ICE’s own prior policies urging discretion in conducting enforcement activities expressly acknowledged the potential that such activities may ‘deter individuals from reporting crimes and from pursuing actions to protect their civil rights,’” she wrote.

But all that changed in 2017 when the Trump administration changed its guidance on courthouse arrests, resulting in a 1,200% increase in civil immigration detentions at state courthouses over three years, according to the case record.

In response, New York lawmakers passed the Protect Our Courts Act, which only permits federal immigration agents to make courthouse arrests with a signed court order or criminal warrant.

“POCA’s legislative history contains ample evidence of the serious impairments experienced by the state’s judicial system from disruptive civil courthouse arrests that were intended to be remedied by POCA,” D’Agostino wrote Monday. “The legislature further determined that public safety is enhanced by protecting parties and witnesses from civil arrests in connection with their attendance at court proceedings, to encourage victims and witnesses to come forward to participate in the justice system.”

In addition to the Protect Our Courts Act, D’Agostino’s ruling also upholds a pair of executive orders enacted by former Governor Andrew Cuomo, which limited state cooperation with ICE and prevented them from making warrantless arrests in other state facilities.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Tuesday that D’Agostino’s ruling “ensures that anyone can use New York’s state courts without being targeted by federal authorities.”

“My office will continue fighting to defend the dignity and rights of immigrant communities throughout New York,” she said.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

During Trump’s second term, ICE has similarly ramped up its enforcement efforts at federal immigration courthouses, often waiting outside of the courtrooms themselves to detain asylum seekers following hearings. A federal lawsuit on that practice is currently pending in the Southern District of New York; D’Agostino’s ruling will have no effect, only protecting against arrests at state courthouses.

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