The Trump administration has admitted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were mistakenly instructed to arrest individuals inside immigration courts, a policy that has been in place for nearly a year. The U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, Jay Clayton, expressed regret in a letter to a federal judge, stating that his office had erroneously defended an ICE memo that does not apply to immigration court arrests.
Clayton attributed the error to ICE's legal team, which had informed his office that the memo applied to immigration courthouse arrests. The memo, issued by ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons in May 2025, advised agents to operate discreetly and generally avoid enforcement actions in courthouses dedicated to non-criminal proceedings. However, a subsequent memo from ICE Assistant Director Liana Castano clarified that the policy does not apply to immigration courts, regardless of their location.
The admission has sparked outrage among critics, including former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who was arrested by ICE agents while accompanying immigrants to court. Lander called for an immediate halt to all courthouse arrests and a Congressional investigation. The policy had led to chaotic scenes of masked agents arresting immigrants as they left hearings, often separating them from their families.
The documents were revealed in a lawsuit against the administration's campaign of targeting noncitizens at immigration court proceedings. Attorneys for advocacy groups noted that the implications are far-reaching, as ICE has continued to unlawfully arrest people leaving court, sending them to detention facilities hundreds of miles away. A federal judge previously criticised the practice as a 'game of detention roulette' that violates due process.
