Federal judge blocks Trump policy that allows immigration court arrests

A federal judge in California on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration's policies expanding arrests at immigration courthouses and extending detention periods for noncitizens. U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts vacated Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies that had rescinded restrictions on courthouse arrests and allowed detainees to be held in short-term facilities for up to 72 hours, finding the actions "arbitrary and capricious" under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The ruling, issued in a case involving an asylum seeker arrested after leaving a San Francisco immigration court hearing, reinstated Biden-era policies that limited courthouse arrests to narrow circumstances such as national security threats and capped detentions at 12 hours. Judge Pitts found the Trump administration failed to provide adequate legal justification for rescinding the previous restrictions.

The Department of Homeland Security's general counsel criticized the decision as "naked judicial activism," while the administration has pursued aggressive deportation enforcement since Trump returned to office in January.