DAs Join Calls For ICE To Stop Courthouse Arrests

NEW YORK, NY — Three of New York City's five district attorneys joined calls Wednesday for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to stop arresting immigrants at local courthouses, arguing the practice threatens the city's justice system.

Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr., Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez and Bronx DA Darcel Clark joined the recent push by public defenders and activists to protect immigrants who make legally mandated court appearances.

ICE arrested or tried to arrest 78 people at New York City's state-run courthouses from January to November 2017, a 600 percent spike from just 11 appearances in all of 2016, according to the Immigrant Defense Project. Aboubacar Dembele, a 27-year-old brought to the U.S. from the Ivory Coast as a child, was arrested just last Thursday outside the Bronx Criminal Court.

The arrests make immigrants afraid to come to court, whether they're defending themselves or appearing as witnesses, and threaten to disrupt the functioning of the city's court system, the Democratic prosecutors said.

"The ongoing enforcement actions ICE is conducting in courthouses jeopardize public safety by forcing immigrants into the shadows, disrupt court proceedings and deprive defendants of their due process and victims of their day in court," Gonzalez said in a statement.

The Office of Court Administration, which oversees the state-run courts, requires ICE agents to notify court officers when they come to make an arrest. It does not allow ICE agents into courtrooms themselves.

An ICE policy issued last month says its agents will arrest immigrants charged with a crime when they come to court, but won't pick up their family members or anyone who's appearing as a witness to a crime.

But the DAs and Public Advocate Letitia James, also a Democrat, argue the courthouse arrests will still discourage victims from coming forward for fear of encountering ICE in court.

"This could have a chilling effect on getting witnesses to assist in our cases, potentially resulting in a threat to public safety," Clark said in a statement.

ICE has said courthouse arrests are safer for immigrants and agents alike because everyone is screened before entering the buildings, reducing the risk of an encounter turning violent.

Immigrant-rights activists and public defenders groups have called on state Chief Judge Janet DiFiore to bar ICE agents from courthouses. The Office of Court Administration has said the courts are public buildings where all law enforcement agencies have been allowed to make arrests for years.

(Lead image: Public Advocate Letitia James, Bronx DA Darcel Clark, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. speak at a news conference on Wednesday. Photo from NYC Public Advocate's Office via Twitter)