A Chicago-area judge has ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers can be arrested at Cook County courthouses if they violate his orders and arrest a migrant without a warrant.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered that ICE officers are barred from arresting migrants at courthouses if they don’t have a warrant. He also ordered that federal law enforcement can be arrested if they violate his orders.
The judge’s order aimed to prevent what are called “collateral arrests” of people whom ICE officers discover are illegal on the spot. These are migrants that ICE agents come across by happenstance while looking for someone they have a warrant to apprehend.
Cummings stated that courthouses must be places where witnesses and suspects feel safe.
“The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of civil arrest,” he said in his order.
Judge Cummings also cited in his ruling arrests that have been made recently outside county courthouses where ICE has taken “collateral” migrants into custody in the Chicago area.
“One thing seems clear: ICE rousted American citizens from their apartments during the middle of the night and detained them — in zip ties no less — for far longer than the ‘brief’ period authorized by the operative regulation,” the judge wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it intends to “comply with all lawful court orders and is addressing this matter with the court.”
However, DHS also defended its practice of taking “collateral” migrants into custody whenever they find them.
“We aren’t some medieval kingdom; there are no legal sanctuaries where you can hide and avoid the consequences for breaking the law,” DHS said in a statement, according to WBBM-TV. “Nothing in the Constitution prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them.”
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