U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested two people at a California courthouse Tuesday, violating a state law that prevents arrests at a courthouse while a person has a hearing pending or other legal business in court. According to the 2019 state legislation, known as AB-668, immigration arrests made in judicial facilities require a warrant. Officials at the Sonoma County Superior Court said ICE’s action not only undermines local authority but furthers undocumented immigrants’ reluctance to participate in the justice system, the Associated Press reported.
“It’s now going to put total fear in the community,” Sonoma County Public Defender Kathleen Pozzi told The Press Democrat. “People aren’t going to come to court. Victims will refuse to show up. Witnesses will refuse to show up … cases will have to get dismissed.” Despite violating state law by making the arrests without a warrant, ICE claimed federal law permits the agency “to make administrative arrests of removable aliens inside the United States.” “Our officers will not have their hands tied by sanctuary rules when enforcing immigration laws to remove criminal aliens from our communities,” David Jennings, ICE’s field office director in San Francisco, said in a statement to the AP.
ICE spokesman Jonathan Moor identified the first man as Antonio Hernandez Lopez and the second as Pedro Romero Aguirre. Both men are from Mexico and had been arrested before, Moor claimed. Pozzi said Lopez was detained in a courthouse hallway before being able to attend his court hearing. He was appearing on charges of felony domestic violence and misdemeanor drunk driving and planned to take responsibility for the incident, Lopez’s attorney Martin Woods said.
According to NBC News, witnesses said they saw Aguirre get apprehended in the parking lot by a man in ordinary clothes. The agent allegedly offered his hand for a handshake and then grabbed Aguirre’s elbow before revealing his law enforcement badge. During Aguirre’s arrest, a county public defender and investigator confronted an ICE agent as he led the man to an unmarked law enforcement vehicle. They demanded information, including the name of the man being arrested and the agent’s affiliation, as the agent was not wearing a uniform, NBC News reported.
The arrests followed an announcement from the Trump administration that “elite tactical agents” will be deployed in sanctuary cities across the country to increase what the administration calls “immigration enforcement and safety.” California is one of many states to have passed laws against Trump’s anti-immigration policies, including unlawful arrests. According to the AP, several witnesses in the county have seen ICE agents make ambush arrests without being in uniform or first identifying themselves.
Earlier this month, ICE even shot a man in the face after he reportedly became involved in an altercation because a family member was being arrested by men in ordinary clothes, without a badge or warrant, in New York. ICE continues to separate families and detain individuals despite laws in place to prevent this. The government agency dehumanizes immigrants and targets them in vulnerable spaces including courthouses and hospitals, further spreading fear and deterring immigrants from seeking out and utilizing public resources. ICE will go to any length to advance its anti-immigrant agenda, including breaking state laws.