Overview
- U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel issued a stay Monday that bars most civil immigration arrests at Manhattan’s immigration courthouses at 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street and 290 Broadway, with exceptions only for urgent threats like imminent violence or national security.
- Castel reversed his 2025 stance after Justice Department lawyers disclosed in March that they had defended the policy on a mistaken premise, acknowledging a May 2025 ICE memo never applied to immigration courts.
- Following Monday’s ruling, advocates reported Tuesday that ICE detained a 21-year-old Honduran man inside 26 Federal Plaza, and civil rights groups and Rep. Dan Goldman questioned whether the arrest defied the court’s narrow exceptions.
- The Department of Homeland Security defended courthouse arrests as common sense and signaled it may appeal, while the judge’s order remains temporary and limited to the three Manhattan facilities.
- Advocacy groups, including the NYCLU, ACLU, Make the Road NY, The Door and African Communities Together, say the courthouse arrest practice since mid‑2025 discouraged attendance at mandatory hearings and produced sudden hallway detentions and family separations.