{"id":48843,"date":"2026-06-25T12:05:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T19:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48843"},"modified":"2026-06-25T12:05:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T19:05:55","slug":"federal-judge-in-california-bans-ice-from-arresting-immigrants-at-courthouses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/federal-judge-in-california-bans-ice-from-arresting-immigrants-at-courthouses\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal judge in California bans ICE from arresting immigrants at courthouses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

National win for civil rights group behind Northern California class-action lawsuit also barred long-term detentions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A by\u00a0Abigail V\u00e2n Neely<\/a> <\/strong>June 24, 2026 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Several
Federal police removing the chains used to block the entrance to 630 Sansome St. on Dec. 16, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Immigration and Customs Enforcement can no longer arrest immigrants at courthouse hearings or detain them for over 12 hours in short-term holding cells anywhere in the country, a federal judge in California ruled Tuesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling expands a temporary <\/a>order from December that had prohibited both practices in Northern California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courthouse arrests came under legal scrutiny last year. Dramatic scenes of ICE agents arresting people during routine hearings were broadcast from 26 Federal Plaza in New York and other courthouses. In San Francisco, protesters clashed<\/a> with federal agents outside the main immigration court, where hundreds were arrested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mission<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily newsletter<\/strong> below.Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practice had all but ceased<\/a> in San Francisco since October 2025. However, it continued<\/a> in other parts of the country like New York and Texas, said Nisha Kashyap, an attorney at the Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When immigrants were arrested after their hearings, they were often held in cells meant for short-term detention, sometimes for several days<\/a>, before being transferred to a long-term detention center. San Francisco attorneys, in their lawsuit, demanded<\/a> and won an end to the practice of holding people longer than 12 hours in these short-term cells. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICE\u2019s recent practices of arresting people outside court and then detaining them for days in a holding cell were new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2025, ICE and the Department of Justice\u2019s Executive Office for Immigration Review reversed years of guidance against courthouse arrests when it issued a policy that agents could \u201cconduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses\u201d whenever they believed a noncitizen would be present, not just someone who posed a public safety threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICE also used to require its agents to ensure that no one was detained in a holding facility for longer than 12 hours<\/a>. As enforcement increased, however, the number of people in detention \u201csignificantly increased,\u201d an ICE official wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2025, the agency said field offices nationwide could begin detaining people for up to three days or longer in \u201cexceptional circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Casey Pitts of the Northern District of California court wrote that neither decision was backed up by clear reasoning required by Congress\u2019 Administrative Procedures Act. He banned both practices, describing them as \u201carbitrary and capricious.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitts\u2019 ruling was a \u201ccrushing blow to some of the Trump administration\u2019s most extreme immigration enforcement tactics,\u201d the plaintiffs wrote in a press statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe courthouse is meant to be a refuge for the pursuit of justice, not a hunting ground for ICE,\u201d wrote Jordan Wells, a senior attorney at the Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. \u201cNo one, immigrants included, should be forced to choose between their liberty and their day in court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We won’t ignore your neighborhood<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When a San Francisco neighborhood has a Mission Local<\/em> reporter, it means someone is there<\/strong>. We’re following new housing projects proposed on your block, keeping tabs on what your district supervisor is up to at City Hall, and letting you know when longtime businesses close (and new ones open). When big news breaks, we already know the context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most neighborhoods don’t have that. Yours could. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s what Mission Local<\/em> is building. <\/strong>Our reporters don’t parachute in — they write consistently on San Francisco, so you’re never reading about your neighborhood from someone who just looked it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far we are in five of San Francisco’s neighborhoods. But we know all San Franciscans deserve our kind of coverage. Will you join us?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put a reporter on your block!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latest News<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"S.F.<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

S.F. supervisors will hammer out the city budget tonight. Here\u2019s what\u2019s at stake. <\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"What<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What losing the Make Out Room would mean to San Francisco<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"After<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a year without a pharmacy, Bayview is finally getting one<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Abigail V\u00e2n NeelyStaff reporter<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

abigail@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abigail is a staff reporter at Mission Local covering criminal justice and public health. She got her bachelor’s and master’s from Stanford University and has received awards for investigative reporting and public service journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abigail now lives in San Francisco with her cat, Sally Carrera, but she’ll always be a New Yorker. (Yes, the shelter named the cat after the Porsche from the animated movie Cars.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Message her securely via Signal at abi.725More by Abigail V\u00e2n Neely<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National win for civil rights group behind Northern California class-action lawsuit also barred long-term detentions by\u00a0Abigail V\u00e2n Neely June 24, 2026 (MissionLocal.org) Immigration and Customs Enforcement can no longer arrest immigrants at courthouse hearings or detain them for over 12 hours in short-term holding cells anywhere in the country, a… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2004],"tags":[1888],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48843"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48844,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48843\/revisions\/48844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}