Immigrant Rights Advocates Demand NYC Immigration Courts Protect Due Process Amid ICE Arrest Surge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2025
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Immigrant Rights Advocates Demand NYC Immigration Courts Protect Due Process Amid ICE Arrest Surge
New York, NY – LatinoJustice PRLDEF, with ten other immigrant rights advocates sent a demand letter today to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and the NYC Immigration Courts to take legally required steps to safeguard people going to immigration court from illegal ICE arrests. This is the first time advocates are demanding immigration courts change how they hold hearings amid ICE’s courthouse arrests.
According to advocates, since May 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations agents, and other unidentified masked individuals have arrested people at immigration courts across the country, including at 26 Federal Plaza and other NYC immigration courts.
In the past, lawsuits have focused on why ICE is conducting arrests and why the immigration courts are dismissing immigration court cases – this letter instead focuses on why the courts do not take basic steps to protect people going to court.
The first demand ensures fair hearings that are free from intimidation or interference. The second insists that EOIR fulfill its duty to protect the public from the risks caused by ICE arrests at courthouses, like offering video hearing options. According to the letter, specific steps that EOIR should adopt include making sure people going to court and their lawyers safely access and participate without interference and letting the public know about the risk of ICE’s arrests in the courthouse. Lastly, to guarantee that ICE and unidentified masked people stop taking people away at court.
Co-signers of the demand letter include Immigrant ARC, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), CARECEN NY, Immigration Law & Justice NY, UnLocal, Neighbors Link, Child Advocacy Clinic of St. John’s University School of Law, the Episcopal Diocese of New York, the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island and the NYC Anti- Violence Project.
“It is time that we draw attention to how immigration courts are failing their legal duty – they can and must take steps to protect those going to court and offering fair hearings,” said Rex Chen, Supervising Counsel for Immigrant Rights at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “They regularly cancel hearings when the weather is too dangerous to travel to court. There is no reason why they heartlessly keep holding hearings when ICE arrests make it too dangerous to travel to court. The court’s refusal to protect people is unacceptable and violates due process and the fair administration of justice.”
"The threat of potential detention for merely showing up to court is terrorizing our clients and impacting our ability to represent them,” said Paul Fleck, Executive Director, Immigration Law & Justice New York. “They should not be penalized for trying to do things the right way."
“People going to immigration court should not face arrest,” said Tania Mattos, Executive Director of UnLocal. “Unfortunately, this common sense, centuries-old protection is being violated, undermining trust in our legal system. Immigration courts are failing people but they can stop this now and they must stop this now.”
“Following the law should never put someone’s safety at risk,” said Priyanka Gandhi, Interim CEO of Immigrant ARC. “Yet the arrests and intimidation, including violence, we’re seeing at immigration courts undermine this very foundation. Despite doing what the law asks of them, and having protections in place, mothers, fathers, and children may now face unexpected detainment or even expedited removal, ripping families apart and destroying lives. EOIR has both the responsibility and the authority to ensure that court is a place for rule of law, not fear.”
"How we treat people in our care is a sign of what we value. We celebrate and defend human dignity as a civic commitment and a foundation of our faith,” said Rt. Rev. Matthew E. Heyd, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. “As a society we’re not living up to these values now. Our courts should be sanctuary. The Episcopal Diocese of New York calls for a safe, humane, and just court system.”
The demand follows a recent lawsuit filed by The Door and African Communities Together, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Make the Road New York (MRNY), and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP (ECBAWM), which seeks to block ICE from using internal memos that authorize courthouse arrests and to stop immigration courts from using a policy that encourages judges to dismiss removal proceedings without giving immigrants a chance to be heard and that fails to give an accurate summary of the legal standard for dismissing cases.
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About LatinoJustice
LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. For over 50 years, LatinoJustice PRLDEF has acted as an advocate against injustices throughout the country. To learn more about LatinoJustice, visit www.LatinoJustice.org