Press Releases
01/21/2020
Attorney General Tong Joins Fight to Halt Immigration Arrests at State Courthouses
14 AGs File Amicus Brief Supporting Washington State’s Lawsuit Against DHS, ICE, and CBP
Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 14 attorneys general supporting Washington State's fight to halt ICE arrests of immigrants in and around state courthouses."These arrests are harmful and illegal and they need to stop. The Trump Administration's disruptive new policy of courthouse immigration enforcement violates centuries-old legal protections for litigants in and around courthouses," said Attorney General Tong.
Attorney General Tong continued: "Courthouse arrests have skyrocketed across the country and in Connecticut since the Trump Administration took office. But courthouses can't be hunting grounds for ICE. They need to be open to all litigants and witnesses. Domestic violence victims need to feel safe coming to court to seek protection orders. Witnesses need to come and offer their testimony. The Administration's courthouse arrest policy frightens both documented and undocumented immigrants. It keeps people away from the courthouses – and it creates chaos in the courthouses."
Last month, the Washington State Attorney General sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other federal agencies and officers, arguing that the federal government’s policy and practice of arresting noncitizens – both undocumented and those with legal status – in and around state courthouses violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Tenth Amendment, and the right of access to courts, which is protected by the First, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The case, filed in federal court in the Western District of Washington, is State of Washington v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., 19-02043.
Yesterday, Attorney General Tong and a coalition of attorneys general from around the nation filed an amicus brief in support of Washington’s motion for a preliminary injunction. In the brief — led by New York Attorney General Letitia James — the coalition argues that the federal government’s courthouse arrest practice is common across the states that are a party to the brief, and that the arrests violate an ancient common law protection against civil arrests at courthouses.
The brief specifically calls attention to Connecticut law: One of the first legal treatises published in the United States, Zephaniah Swift's A Digest of the Law of the State of Connecticut, noted the prohibition against arresting parties and witnesses while they are in court, going to court, or returning from court.
The brief also shows how the federal government’s courthouse arrest policy hurts the effective functioning of state justice systems.
Among other examples, the brief discusses how standoffs with ICE agents have disrupted Connecticut courthouses and intimidated litigants. In particular, the amicus brief notes that, in December 2019, a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) was mistakenly arrested by ICE agents in Milford courthouse. After proving that she was lawfully present under DACA, she was released, but not before the incident had provoked a disruptive faceoff between ICE agents and immigration advocates at the courthouse.
Attorney General Tong joins the attorneys general of New York, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia in filing today’s brief.
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