A federal judge on Monday slammed the brakes on a key Trump-era immigration enforcement tactic in Manhattan, ordering federal agents to temporarily return to tighter Biden-era restrictions on arrests at immigration courthouses after government attorneys acknowledged they made a significant factual error in court.
U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must scale back civil immigration arrests at several Manhattan immigration court locations while a broader legal battle moves forward.
The decision marks a dramatic turn in the case. Castel had previously declined to stop the policy, but revisited the issue after Justice Department attorneys informed the court that earlier arguments defending the administration’s approach were based on incorrect information.
Government lawyers admitted they had made what they called a “material mistaken statement of fact” regarding a May 2025 ICE enforcement memo. According to court filings, attorneys had previously indicated the guidance covered immigration courts, but later acknowledged the policy “does not and has never applied” to immigration court proceedings.
Castel said the government’s reversal required the court to step in “to correct a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice.”
The legal challenge was brought by immigrant advocacy groups that argued the administration had effectively transformed mandatory court appearances into opportunities for immigration enforcement. Plaintiffs claimed migrants appearing before judges were in some cases detained by ICE agents immediately after hearings.
In his ruling, Castel said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in arguing that the administration acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner when it withdrew a 2021 ICE policy that had sharply limited courthouse arrests.
Still, the judge stopped short of a blanket prohibition. Federal agents can continue making arrests under limited circumstances involving national security threats, imminent violence, active pursuit situations, or concerns involving criminal evidence.
The order applies only to immigration proceedings at three Manhattan federal locations: 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street, and 290 Broadway. It does not establish a nationwide restriction.
Immigration activists celebrated the ruling as a major victory.
“Today’s ruling is an enormous win for noncitizen New Yorkers seeking to safely attend their immigration court proceedings,” said Amy Belsher, director of immigrants’ rights litigation for the NYCLU, according to Fox News.
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“required the court to step in “to correct a clear error and prevent a manifest injustice“
The injustice is the presence of these nasty INVADERS being in America what about that don’t these anti American “judges” get???
Yep – we certainly don’t want to hold ANYONE accountable for their crimes, that just ‘might’ make some of them realize that we actually are a Nation of laws and there are indeed consequences for breaking those laws.
This judge is terrible. He’s a traitor who protects the illegal immigrant. He should have spent his whole life in jail because he represents the law but breaks the law.