Activists actively obstructed federal immigration agents in New York City who had detained migrants at a Manhattan courthouse.
A video posted online appears to show U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arresting a man, identified by the New York Daily News as Dominican migrant Joaquin Rosario Espinal, suspected of being in the country illegally. The arrest occurred in the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in Manhattan, the New York Daily News reported.
“Stop fighting! Stop resisting! Stop resisting!” an agent yelled, according to the report.
A second person who is a citizen and who attempted to block agents from making the arrest was also charged.
ABC News reported that federal officers are arresting migrants at immigration courts. According to the report, officers wait in immigration court buildings and detain migrants whose cases have been dismissed, then expedite removal proceedings by the Department of Homeland Security.
“Dismissals used to generally be good news,” ABC News quoted Michelle Brane, executive director of Together and Free, an immigration support group, as saying. “It means that the government has decided it’s not worth pursuing your case, that you’re going to be able to either be free to pursue some other avenue.
“It feels like it’s playing dirty with people because they’re not giving people a chance,” Brane added.
Wired reported that ICE rescinded guidance that advised its agents conducting courthouse raids to try to avoid violating state and local laws while arresting people in the country illegally. The publication reported that the change “could lead to an escalation in enforcement tactics and legal disputes.”
The arrest is part of “Operation At Large,” a nationwide, ICE-led plan to step up arrests of immigrants in the country illegally. NBC News reported that the operation included more than 5,000 federal agents and up to 21,000 National Guard troops.
While federal authorities have ramped up enforcement of immigration laws, liberals have pushed back, particularly objecting to immigration enforcement in courthouses. However, not just activists have tried to obstruct federal agents from enforcing the law.
In Milwaukee, Wis., a judge is accused of helping someone in the country illegally evade arrest. The feds charged Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan with obstructing an official proceeding, sparking a range of opinions in addition to the federal charges.
That has prompted some lawmakers to fight back. In Ohio, for example, a state lawmaker introduced legislation that would bar officials from impeding immigration enforcement.
The move follows action officials in Franklin County took to ban civil arrests without a judicial warrant on courthouse grounds and bar arrests by judicial warrant in courtrooms except when enforcement agencies have requested and received a judge’s written approval.
