ICE targets migrants for arrest at courthouses as Trump administration intensifies deportation push

Migrants are being detained by immigration agents in courthouse hallways nationwide, sometimes moments after pleading their cases, raising alarm among attorneys and advocates.

Migrants are being detained by immigration agents in courthouse hallways nationwide, sometimes moments after pleading their cases, raising alarm among attorneys and advocates who say the practice is turning immigration courts from places of due process into zones of fear. It’s the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration to accelerate the pace of immigration arrests and target migrants, including some who have been in the country for less than two years. The courthouse arrests have stunned immigration attorneys, advocates and lawmakers who argue it punishes people who are following the rules. The Department of Homeland Security recently rescinded long-held guidance that had limited immigration enforcement in or near courthouses. Trump officials have argued the guidance hampered the ability of immigration enforcement officers to apprehend dangerous individuals, deferring to agents’ “common sense” when making arrests near what have been known as “sensitive locations.” “The ability of law enforcement to make arrests of criminal illegal aliens in courthouses is common sense,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release. But internal documents obtained by CNN show the enforcement push is much broader, beyond just people deemed dangerous — and focused on migrants who are still in immigration proceedings but not in detention, known as the non-detained docket. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been directed to swiftly apprehend immigrants who have been ordered removed or whose cases have been dismissed, according to the internal documents obtained by CNN. Those who have been in the United States for less than two years should be placed in fast-track deportation proceedings, according to the documents. President Donald Trump expanded the process known as expedited removal earlier this year, applying it to anyone who has resided in the country for less than two years.