Three of the city’s districts attorneys are pleading with ICE to stop arresting immigrants at city courthouses.
The Manhattan, Brooklyn and Bronx DAs joined Public Advocate Letitia James Wednesday to push the feds to stop the arrests, which they say are interfering with the justice system.
“We’re appealing to them as law enforcement officers not to make these arrests,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “It does not keep us safe. It jeopardizes public safety.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement put out rules this month formalizing its policy of going to courthouses to make arrests — rejecting requests to designate them sensitive locations like churches or hospitals where they rarely arrest people.
They said they would only go after specific targets and would not round up other undocumented immigrants they happen to encounter at court, though exceptions could be made for special circumstances. They require a supervisor’s approval to make arrests in non-criminal areas like family court.
DAs and public defenders alike say the arrests are making defendants, witnesses and victims afraid to come to court.
“This enforcement is having a chilling effect on witnesses,” said Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.
There were 150 arrests in and around courthouses in New York State last year — up from just 11 in 2016 before President Trump took office.
In January, there were another seven arrests at Brooklyn courts and one in the Bronx. The Manhattan DA did not have an exact number but said there had been several.
“They can’t go there without fear of getting arrested,” said Manhattan DA Cy Vance. “That means critical witnesses and victims in cases don’t proceed with important prosecutions, and New Yorkers are less safe because of it.”
“Unfortunately, right now it is safer to be at Rikers Island because we have a detainer law than out in the community,” said Legal Aid Society attorney in charge Tina Luongo, referring to the city’s policy of rejecting the feds’ detainer requests to turn over immigrants.
ICE has blamed those so-called sanctuary city policies for forcing it to make arrests out in the open at spots like courthouses rather than having detainees transferred inside jails. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
“Not only is this new policy an attack on our immigrants, but it is an attack on our justice system,” James said. “We cannot pursue justice when injustice prevails.”
