Trump administration loses challenge to NY law barring state courthouse ICE arrests

The Courthouse News Service reports that U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino, a Barack Obama appointee in the Northern District of New York, dismissed the government’s lawsuit against the New York Protect Our Courts Act. The law requires federal immigration officers to have a warrant to make arrests at state courthouses in New York.

In the ruling filed yesterday, Judge D’Agostino rejected the government’s claims that the law violates the U.S. Constitution and found that the 10th Amendment permits states to make their own decisions about assisting federal immigration enforcement.

Judge D’Agostino noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the past had discouraged immigration enforcement in state courthouses. “ICE’s own prior policies urging discretion in conducting enforcement activities expressly acknowledged the potential that such activities may ‘deter individuals from reporting crimes and from pursuing actions to protect their civil rights,’” she wrote.