Dear Judge DiFiore and Judge Marks:

We are a group of organizations that provide counsel, services, and support to immigrant communities who use the New York State courts. We work with individuals who need safe access to the New York State court system for critical reasons, including: obtaining orders of protection, vindicating child custody rights, defending against criminal charges, seeking protection against exploitative employers and landlords, participating in family court proceedings, and maintaining public assistance.  

We write to express our serious concern about the impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) activities in and around the State’s courts.  ICE’s looming presence is quickly eroding the public’s trust in the State court system, undermining access to justice and threatening public safety for all New Yorkers. We respectfully request that as Chief Judge and Chief Administrative Judge of the Unifed Court System you take all steps necessary to prevent ICE from apprehending immigrants in the State’s courts.

There has been a sharp increase in ICE’s presence throughout the New York State court system. Since February, advocates can verify that, at a minimum, ICE has arrested or attempted to arrest 17 individuals in New York’s courts. This compares to reports of 20 arrests over the past two years. The arrests have occurred in Westchester, Putnam, Columbia and all five counties of New York City. ICE agents did not present a valid judicial warrant in any of these cases, skirting the constitutionally-mandated rules that generally order the State court system.

For the first time, in early March, ICE arrested an individual in New York’s Family Courts. This follows reports from El Paso, Texas, of ICE arresting a transgender domestic violence survivor who was seeking an order of protection.  Federal immigration authorities have publicly stood by such arrests declaring that victims of crime and witnesses will be targets for deportation under the new administration.

With each new report of an immigration arrest, mistrust of the court system grows and access to justice withers. This has troubling civil rights implications, impeding constitutional rights to due process, equal protection, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. Immigrants from communities that already face difficulty with access to courts for different reasons, such as fear of identity-based discrimination, language barriers, or age, are likely to be multiply deterred in their efforts to meaningfully access the courts. Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault will increasingly be too fearful to seek protection from the courts; and children’s access to support, protection, and permanency will be diminished.

We appreciate that the court system is monitoring the presence of ICE, but would like to highlight the trends that we have observed over the past few months.

ICE is now making arrests in Family Court: On March 16th, ICE arrested a father appearing for a child support hearing in Kings County Family Court. The father, a lawful permanent resident from Jamaica, was seated in the waiting area when he heard the court clerk call his name. He stood up and was immediately surrounded by plain clothed agents who handcuffed him and shackled his ankles. The father is now detained in an immigration jail in New Jersey and his ability to support his nine year-old son has been significantly impeded.  

Survivors of domestic violence are often too fearful to seek protection from the courts. Legal Services NYC reports that one mother, who suffered severe domestic violence and the kidnapping of her son by her partner, is now too scared to ask the Family Court to sign a U visa certification. In another case, a Sanctuary for Families attorney urged a client who is a rape survivor to seek custody of her daughter after her abusive partner took the child and refused to allow her any contact. The woman, who is undocumented, was too terrified of the prospect of deportation to file the petition.

In the Criminal Courts, ICE is targeting a wide range of individuals including documented and undocumented individuals, people facing both misdemeanor and felony charges, and apprehending defendants as early in the court process as the arraignment. Per President Trump’s executive orders, ICE agents are targeting both documented and undocumented immigrants. This includes documented immigrants, who have certain criminal convictions, and undocumented immigrants who have simply been “charged with a criminal offense” or who have “committed acts that constitute criminal conduct.”  Advocates have seen ICE agents follow through on these sweeping new priorities by showing up at arraignment parts and arresting undocumented immigrants appearing to face misdemeanor charges.  

Public defenders are reporting significant increases in the number of clients who are failing to appear for court. Brooklyn Defender Services has seen double the number of warrants issued for clients facing misdemeanor charges.  One public defender from New York County reports that even after he negotiated the dismissal of all charges for an undocumented client, the immigrant, who had no criminal record, declined to show up to get the charges dismissed.  

In some instances, OCA employees are assisting ICE enforcement actions. In Hudson City Court, the court clerk has called ICE agents to share docket information so that they can identify immigrants for apprehension.  In Brooklyn Criminal Court, a private defense attorney reports that court officers physically blocked him from accompanying his client into the vestibule of a courtroom where ICE agents were waiting. As a result, ICE agents were able to surround his client and arrest him.  

Given the grave threat to access to justice and public safety, we ask that as Chief Judge and Chief Administrative Judge of the Unified Court System you take steps to stop ICE enforcement actions at State courthouses.

Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.

Sincerely,