NYC Lawyers Continue Push To Boot ICE From Courts

NEW YORK, NY — A large bloc of immigrant-rights advocates sent a letter Tuesday asking New York State's top judge to immediately bar federal immigration agents from local courthouses.

The letter from more than 100 attorneys unions, activist groups and elected officials to Janet DiFiore, chief judge of the state Court of Appeals, says the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents turns state-controlled courts into "a bait-and-switch trap" for undocumented immigrants.

DiFiore oversees the state's court system and controls the policy that currently allows ICE and other law-enforcement agencies to make arrests in court buildings. Advocates, including City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and City Comptroller Scott Stringer, want her to change the policy and ban immigration agents from entering them.

"Right now, any court appearance puts our non-citizen clients at risk of arrest, detention, and deportation by ICE," the letter reads. "This deprives our clients of due process under the law, effective assistance of counsel, and a genuine right to defend themselves."

Advocates have sought for weeks to get ICE agents out from courts amid a spike in immigration arrests inside and around them. A November report by the nonprofit Immigrant Defense Project counted 78 successful and attempted courthouse arrests in New York City this year, up from just 11 in 2016.

One arrest in Brooklyn criminal court last month sparked an impromptu protest by Legal Aid attorneys. Lawyers and activists rallied at Brooklyn Borough Hall a week later, making a collective public call for DiFiore to act.

Allowing ICE into courthouses puts immigrants in a double bind, Tuesday's letter argues. They have to come to court to defend themselves against criminal charges, but doing so comes with a risk of being deported.

"The situation is completely untenable and threatens the very legitimacy of our court system," the letter says.

The Office of Court Administration, the state agency that oversees the courts, allows ICE officers inside as long as they don't disrupt court proceedings or endanger public safety. Court officers aren't supposed to help or hinder ICE officers in making arrests, though some lawyers have reported seeing court personnel provide assistance.

It's uncertain that the OCA has legal authority to ban ICE from courthouses, but the agency has expressed concern to federal officials about the impact of immigration arrests in them, said Lucian Chalfen, an OCA spokesman. State court officials have asked ICE to treat the courts as "sensitive" locations, like churches and schools, where its officers are generally barred from going, Chalfen said.

"The safety and security of all New Yorkers who use our courthouses throughout the State is our primary commitment," Chalfen said in an email. "We ensure that any activity by outside law enforcement agencies does not cause disruption or compromise Court operations, while maintaining the fact that courts are public buildings and the legal authority to prevent access to state courts is highly questionable."

ICE has said it only makes arrests in courthouses when it has exhausted all other options. It's safer to apprehend immigrants there because they're screened for weapons before entering, the agency says.

In an interview with reporters from the now-defunct news sites DNAinfo and Gothamist, Mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed keeping ICE out of New York's courts, but declined to say the NYPD should change how it enforces low-level crimes that send immigrants to court in the first place.

"The court system should be an off-limits place to ICE, and that would allow for people to come and feel they can testify against a criminal and not end up being deported to another country as a result," de Blasio said in the interview.

(Lead image: An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer walks down an airplane aisle in 2010. Photo by LM Otero/Associated Press)