XPost: alt.politics.immigration, alt.california.illegals, talk.politics.guns XPost: sac.politics, alt.society.liberalism

Throw them out.

This is an ongoing story. The Guardian will continue to monitor and
update this piece as new developments occur.

Starting Thursday, May 22, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at
San Diego Immigration Court began conducting courthouse arrests,
detaining migrants appearing for civil immigration proceedings as they
exited their courtrooms. The arrests and detentions continued while
court was in session on Friday, May 23.

ICE, whose office is on the second floor, sent agents to commandeer the
fourth floor hallways of the courthouse at approximately 8 a.m. Agents
waited for individuals to leave their courtroom before stopping and
detaining them against the hallway wall. Agents then demanded these
individuals provide identification, checking their name against their
list of people with outstanding I-200 warrants.

I-200 warrants are administrative warrants ICE can issue without a
judge's signature. While these warrants do not allow agents to enter
private property without consent, they do authorize agents to make
arrests in public spaces, such as outside of courtrooms.

These warrants are designed to give ICE the power to arrest non-citizens
who have not yet begun civil immigration proceedings. However, the
individuals who ICE detained and arrested at the courthouse were there
for the express purpose of attending their ongoing civil immigration proceedings. ICE waited for their hearings - many of which resulted in
case dismissal or continuance - to conclude before detaining them.

An immigration attorney whose client was detained during Thursday's ICE operation, Ginger Jacobs, gave a statement to The UCSD Guardian on
Thursday.

"This feels like they're trying to interfere with people's right to due
process by scooping up a ton of people to detain them, when all of us
are here today thinking it's just going to be a normal hearing," Jacobs
said.

On Thursday, ICE arrested 11 people and wrongfully detained two others.
On Friday, ICE took at least seven people, with some witnesses reporting
as many as 12. It is unclear at this time where the arrestees are being
held or what will happen to them next. ICE told one attorney that his
client would be held in Otay Mesa Detention Center and processed for
expedited removal.

Expedited removal is a legal process that low-level immigration
enforcement officers use to remove noncitizens who entered the United
States without "inspection." It allows ICE to deport migrants without a
hearing before an immigration judge.

The use and scope of this law has grown since its establishment in 1996. Historically, it has only been used against individuals within their
first two weeks of arrival and within 100 miles from the border. In
January 2025, the Trump administration expanded expedited removal to its largest scope yet: Immigration officers can use expedited removal to
deport any noncitizens they encounter anywhere and who they determine to
have entered the country without proper documentation. This excludes noncitizens who can show that they have been physically present in the
U.S. for more than two years prior to this determination.

Jacobs speculated on the legal maneuvers ICE is using to carry out these detainments, arrests, and expedited removals. "Most of the people
arrested have been in the U.S. for fewer than two years," Jacobs said.
"That two-year mark is what ICE is using to justify expedited removal.
It is my belief as an attorney [that ICE is] using expedited removal incorrectly."

This raid follows similar reports of ICE carrying out courthouse arrest operations across the state and country.

A 2019 California law, Assembly Bill 668, prohibits courthouse arrests
by judicial officers: "The threat that persons may be subject to civil
arrest while in California's courthouses or attending judicial
proceedings is a threat to the proper functioning of California's
government and to the rights enjoyed by all Californians." ICE, however,
is exempt from this law as it is an administrative, not judicial,
enforcement agency.

On Friday, The Guardian overheard agents from the Department of Homeland Security saying that ICE plans to continue this at the San Diego
courthouse throughout all of next week.



THURSDAY, May 22
Starting at around 10 a.m., ICE agents prevented everyone except those
called to appear in court to enter the courthouse, though the courthouse
halls are a public space.

ICE agents made several attempts, including using physical force, to
prevent the public and press from entering the courthouse or taking
photos and videos. They posted "Security Directive" notices on hallway
walls prohibiting recording; these directives did not cite any specific
law or legal order.

At around 11:30 a.m., DHS agents intervened, allowing the public and
press to enter and record freely.

The UCSD Guardian arrived on-site at around 2 p.m., joining an estimated
20 attorneys, activists, and concerned community members in and around
the courthouse. The Guardian witnessed one of two of the wrongful
detentions and several of the eleven arrests.

At 2:48 p.m., ICE agents swarmed and handcuffed an unidentified man
immediately upon his exit from the courtroom. As ICE agents attempted to
drag him through the hall, the man had a medical emergency, dropping to
the floor face-down and becoming nonresponsive.

Agents ignored repeated demands from the man's attorney, Altin
Dastmalchi, to see the warrant for his client's arrest. Once ICE turned
over the warrant, Dastmalchi showed that his client, who is Hispanic,
was not the person named in the warrant, who is Asian.

After Dastmalchi escorted his client out of the courthouse, he returned
at 3:20 p.m. to record the names and badge numbers of the ICE agents.
Most agents gave their badge numbers, but all refused to provide their
names.

At 3:34 p.m., ICE detained and demanded identification from two
unidentified women exiting their courtroom while their attorney remained inside. After the agents checked the women's identification with their
list, ICE placed one woman in cuffs and released the other; she returned
to the courtroom to get their attorney, who was attending to a different
legal matter.

ICE agents attempted to drag the unidentified woman away while her
companion was still in the courtroom, saying they would "wait for the
attorney downstairs." Community members stalled the agents until the
presiding judge stopped the current proceedings to allow the woman's
attorney to attend to her.

At the attorney's request, ICE informed him that they were taking his
client to Otay Mesa Detention Center to be processed as an "expedited
removal." The attorney asked, "Even though her case got dismissed?" to
which the agent responded, "That doesn't matter."

At 4:54 p.m, ICE arrested an unidentified man whose case had just been
granted a continuance. His attorney explained that this means his case
remains open and he has been called to appear in court again, on June
20; ICE agents had no response. This was ICE's last arrest of the day.

Michelle Celleri, legal director for Alliance San Diego, came to the
courthouse on Thursday to act as a legal observer. She agreed with
Jacobs, adding:

"Going to immigration court is your chance to be heard; it is your
right. This is part of due process, and by having ICE out front, it
discourages people from asserting their rights ... to a lawful process,
and by them being detained in front of the court room, it deprives them
of their dignity, their ability to prepare themselves and their family
members for what comes next," Celleri said. "For those who are
unrepresented, to their families they have just disappeared, and they
won't be able to find them for at least 48, and that's if they even know
how [to find them]."

https://ucsdguardian.org/2025/05/23/ice-arrests-dozens-in-raid-at-san-die go-immigration-court/

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)