New York, NY—Today, Donald Trump’s Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against New York State on the Protect Our Courts Act, which forbids Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from making a civil arrest while a person is going to, attending or leaving state court unless the officer has a judicial warrant or court order.
Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition:
“America is supposed to be a nation of laws. Everyone should be able to attend their court cases without fear of being detained or deported because of an unrelated action by ICE. When ICE arrests people at their court hearings, it creates an impossible situation where people are discouraged from following the legal process. This frivolous lawsuit from Trump is just another example of the misuse of federal resources to create chaos for his political enemies, and has nothing to do with the pursuit of justice. The lawsuit should be swiftly dismissed.”