A federal judge in California has issued a ruling that prohibits U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from detaining individuals within immigration courts across the country. This decision halts a significant aspect of the deportation strategy implemented during former President Donald Trump’s administration.
On June 23, Judge P. Casey Pitts of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled against ICE’s practice of arrests inside immigration courts. He stated that federal officials violated a key administrative procedure law by altering previous guidelines that restricted civil arrests in these settings.
Judge Pitts characterized the decision-making process by officials as “arbitrary and inconsistent.” He noted that they failed to consider alternative approaches and disregarded their own prior warnings that such arrests would deter migrants from attending their hearings.
This ruling emerged from a class-action lawsuit against ICE and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, prompted by a surge in arrests within courts and extended detention of migrants in facilities designed for short stays. It also invalidated a blanket authorization issued by ICE in June 2025, which allowed field offices to detain individuals in short-term holding rooms for up to 72 hours, exceeding the traditional limit of 12 hours.
The ruling is likely to face an appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court has significantly restricted the ability of lower court judges to block executive branch policies nationwide. Appeals courts have previously overturned some lower court decisions that challenged the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The practice of detaining individuals in courts has become a contentious issue within the Trump administration’s broader strategy of mass detention and deportation. Individuals attending routine hearings often found themselves unexpectedly taken into custody. These confrontations sometimes escalated into public spectacles in court corridors, where masked ICE agents confronted those attempting to assist migrants.
Last month, a federal judge in Manhattan prohibited such arrests in New York immigration courts; however, Judge Pitts’s ruling extends this prohibition to all courts nationwide.
For at least a decade, ICE has sought to limit civil immigration arrests in and around courts. In 2014 and 2015, its internal guidelines indicated that such actions should be reserved for priority targets—migrants convicted of crimes, affiliated with gangs, or deemed a threat to public safety. The 2021 guidelines expanded these restrictions specifically to immigration courts, acknowledging that such arrests could hinder access to justice.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the immigration court system and is part of the Department of Justice, later broadened these restrictions to all venues where immigration cases were adjudicated.
Judge Pitts noted that when ICE expanded its arrest policy in 2025, the agency unlawfully rescinded its own 2021 guidelines and relied on a new policy that did not mention immigration courts. Justice Department attorneys argued for months that the new policy applied to immigration courts, but ICE ultimately conceded that the document did not reference them. Pitts also determined that the Office violated federal law when it rescinded its 2023 guidelines.
A federal judge in California has ruled against ICE's practice of detaining individuals in immigration courts, citing violations of administrative procedure. This decision halts a controversial aspect of immigration enforcement, potentially impacting access to justice for migrants.