Civil rights groups challenge ICE with class action to stop Trump’s courthouse arrests

Civil rights advocates in the San Francisco Bay Area are taking legal action against the Trump administration’s tactics of arresting immigrants at courthouses and detaining them under harsh conditions in San Francisco. The civil rights organizations filed a federal class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, arguing that these actions violate constitutional rights and long-standing practices.

In the past, both Democratic and Republican administrations had limitations on immigration-related arrests at courthouses, recognizing that it could deter individuals from attending court hearings, thus impacting access to justice. However, the Trump administration revoked these policies in January 2025 without providing any explanation. Since then, ICE agents have been positioned outside immigration courtrooms in San Francisco and other locations, ready to detain individuals immediately after their hearings.

As a result of these tactics, individuals attending hearings now face the difficult choice of risking arrest as they leave court or skipping court altogether and facing potential deportation. This has led to higher rates of absenteeism and default removal orders, affecting immigrants seeking legal recourse.

The lawsuit outlines troubling accounts of individuals arrested after court hearings and held in ICE facilities under bleak conditions. Detainees are forced to sleep on cold, uncomfortable surfaces with limited access to hygiene supplies and medical care. Many are left without necessary medication, and communication with legal counsel is impeded by restrictive visitation and communication policies.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include asylum seekers from Guatemala and Colombia, as well as long-term residents of the United States. One plaintiff, a mother with a nine-month-old baby, narrowly avoided arrest outside her hearing thanks to legal intervention. Another plaintiff, who suffers from serious health conditions, was detained after an interview and later required emergency medical care while in ICE custody.

Civil rights organizations, including the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and the ACLU of Northern California, are working to challenge these practices in court. According to Nisha Kashyap, Racial Justice Program Director at the Lawyers’ Committee, arresting individuals at courthouses undermines the legal system’s foundation and represents a dangerous erosion of constitutional rights.

The goal of the lawsuit is to restore basic human dignity and constitutional order by ending these practices that unjustly target immigrants attending legal proceedings. Laura Sánchez, Immigration Legal Program Director at the Central American Resource Center of Northern California, emphasized the importance of courthouses as sanctuaries for the rule of law, not spaces for government ambushes.

Legal experts involved in the case argue that subjecting immigrants to inhumane conditions violates core constitutional protections against punitive detention. For plaintiffs and their advocates, this lawsuit represents a critical stand against unjust treatment and a call for integrity and justice in the legal process.