ICE agents swarm San Diego immigration court, arresting people after their hearings

At least eight people were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they left San Diego’s immigration court Thursday, according to multiple witnesses.

The arrests are part of controversial tactic in which ICE agents wait in the hallways of immigration courts to detain people as they leave. Similar arrests took place this week in New York City, Miami and Seattle.

People who witnessed the arrests at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building described “a pretty chaotic scene.”

“There were a lot of people who looked 'scared and afraid,’" said immigration lawyer Valerie Sigamani. “ICE officers were lying in the hallway, and they were arresting people."

Immigration lawyers throughout the country have criticized the practice because it makes people afraid to show up to their court hearings.

“They came here with the expectation that they were going to be heard by a judge, and to walk out and be detained is not right,” Sigamani said.

Videos shared with KPBS show ICE agents, some in plainclothes, surrounding people in the narrow hallway as they came out of courtrooms. Urval Patel, a volunteer with the advocacy group Detention Resistance, said he witnessed two arrests.

“ICE, pretty aggressively, started to arrest the person that I was walking out with,” he said. “They pushed me out of the way, they refused to show any warrants.”

Agents physically prevented Patel from videotaping the arrest. He characterized the arrests as aggressive and unnecessary.

“These people are following the law,” he said. “They’re applying for asylum. They’re showing up to their court dates. They are getting future court dates because they are meeting the requirements set by the law in this country.”

ICE did not respond to a request for comment or say how many people they detained Thursday.

Previously, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), had what were known as “sensitive location” policies that prevented ICE agents from arresting people in schools, churches and courthouses.

But the Trump administration threw out those policies upon taking power in January. The elimination of those policies “empowers brave men and women of CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists,” the administration said at the time.

However, federal data show more than 80% of people detained in San Diego are classified as “noncriminal.”

Polls from Pew Research Center show Americans support deporting immigrants with violent criminal convictions. But support for deportations dwindles when it comes to immigrants without criminal convictions, those who have been in the country longer than 15 years, those with jobs, and those with U.S. citizen relatives.

Sigamani is worried these arrests will make people too afraid to attend their immigration court hearings — which could have a negative impact on their cases. Although she understands the fear, she said people still need to attend.

She encouraged immigrants to come up with a “safety plan” in case they are detained.

“If you have children, have someone ready that you know who can take care of them,” she said. “if you have bills, have someone help you pay those bills. Have a phone number that your children can call if you are detained and don’t come back.”