‘ICE Has Been Lying for a Year’ About Being Allowed to Make Courthouse Arrests | Common Dreams
A DOJ filing says ICE guidance used to justify immigration-court arrests never applied there, raising serious questions about a year of courthouse enforcement and the oversight that allowed it.
Mar 26, 2026
Sources
Summary
A DOJ letter in a New York case says prosecutors relied on ICE’s incorrect claim that a May 27, 2025 policy authorized civil immigration arrests in or near immigration courts. The source frames this as ICE “lying,” but the filing also attributes the problem to “agency attorney error” and leaves key facts unanswered about scope, intent, and remedies. The story matters because arrests at routine hearings can deter court attendance and because misleading representations to courts undermine lawful process and accountability.
Reality Check
The concrete factual core is narrower than the headline’s broad accusation: DOJ told the court it relied on ICE’s incorrect representation that a May 27, 2025 ICE guidance covered EOIR immigration courts, and DOJ now says it does not.
The filing, as described, also points to “agency attorney error,” which may reflect negligence, miscommunication, or something more—yet the article does not establish (from the quoted record) who knowingly made false statements, which specific filings were wrong, or how many arrests were directly predicated on that misapplied guidance.
What is clearly significant—and verifiable from the described court posture—is that a judge’s prior reasoning may have rested on an inapplicable policy, forcing re-briefing and potentially altering the legal assessment of courthouse arrest practices.
Media
Detail
Jay Clayton (U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York) filed a letter stating the May 27, 2025 ICE guidance “does not and has never applied” to Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) immigration courts.
Clayton wrote that his office had been “specifically informed by ICE” that the 2025 guidance applied to immigration courthouse arrests, calling it a “regrettable error” that appears to stem from “agency attorney error.”
The letter says a prior ruling from September (by Judge P. Kevin Castel) allowing courthouse arrests based on that guidance “will need to be reconsidered and re-briefed” for the court to decide plaintiffs’ Administrative Procedure Act claims on the merits.
The filing arose in a lawsuit by immigrant rights groups challenging arrests at routine immigration court hearings during the Trump administration.
The article cites examples of arrests tied to courthouse appearances, including Dylan Lopez Contreras (arrested at an asylum hearing in May 2025 and released in March 2026) and the husband of Monica Moreta-Galarza (detained at 26 Federal Plaza).
Ryan Goodman (NYU/Just Security) characterized the DOJ’s statement as a major admission and placed it in a broader pattern of cases where courts found false submissions or the administration admitted them.
Advocates (NYCLU) argue there is no justification for “ambushing” people at court and that the revelation shows disregard for immigrants’ lives.
Candidate Brad Lander called for a congressional investigation and civil-rights actions, asserting ICE “has been lying for a year,” and urged stopping courthouse arrests immediately.