Oh wow, no.
The illegal had already been adjudged to be removed under Title 8 proceedings.
This isn't up for debate. Cease this emotional drivel.
Wrong.
Immigration regulations are not over "criminal acts".
A criminal act gains its severity from the harm it does to others.
But immigration violations harm no one else, so are "regulatory infractions, and NOT crimes.
And the whole point is that the suspect was showing up for court on a real criminal proceeding, so then it was illegal for ICE to interfere and prevent the court from finishing their ruling.
And again, ICE is not supposed to use court appearances.
{...
Protected Areas and Courthouse Arrests
DHS Directive
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a directive —
Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas — on Jan. 20, 2025, for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), superseding and rescinding DHS’s Oct. 27, 2021, memorandum of the same title, which determined that certain locations require special protection from enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
The Jan. 20, 2025, DHS
Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas directive recognizes that “officers frequently apply enforcement discretion to balance a variety of interests, including the degree to which any law enforcement action occurs in a sensitive location. Going forward, law enforcement officers should continue to use that discretion along with a healthy dose of common sense.”
ICE Directive
On Jan. 21, 2025, ICE issued interim guidance,
Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas. Under this interim guidance, ICE officers or agents may conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present at a specific location, and where such action is not precluded by laws imposed by the jurisdiction in which the civil immigration enforcement action will take place.
ICE officers or agents must coordinate with the relevant local ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) office before conducting civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses to determine whether jurisdiction-specific legal limitations apply.
Civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses should, to the extent practicable, continue to take place in non-public areas of the courthouse, be conducted in collaboration with court security staff, and use the court building’s non-public entrances and exits.
When practicable, ICE officers and agents will conduct civil immigration enforcement actions against targeted aliens discreetly to minimize their impact on court proceedings.
ICE officers and agents should generally avoid enforcement actions in or near courthouses, or areas within courthouses that are wholly dedicated to non-criminal proceedings — examples include family court and small claims courts. When an enforcement action in the above situations is operationally necessary, the approval of the respective Field Office Director, Special Agent in Charge, or his or her designee is required prior to conducting the enforcement action.
The guidance also outlines responsibilities of the Field Office Director and the Special Agent in Charge.
For purposes of the ICE
Interim Guidance: Civil Immigration Enforcement Actions in or Near Courthouses, a civil immigration enforcement action is any action taken by an ICE officer or agent to apprehend, arrest, interview, or search an alien in connection with enforcement of administrative immigration violations. This policy does not apply to criminal immigration enforcement inside courthouses.
...}
