100 Lawsuits, 21 Months: Attorney General Bonta Sues ICE over Civil Immigration Arrests at California Courthouses

SACRAMENTO - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's policy and practice of carrying out civil immigration enforcement in and around state courthouses. Since the Trump Administration began authorizing and encouraging these arrests in May 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have carried out disruptive, often violent civil immigration enforcement actions at courthouses across California, without regard for the impacts on the administration of justice. Witnesses, victims, survivors of domestic violence, and others who might wish to seek redress through the state's judicial system understandably fear that courthouses are no longer safe places to appear. ICE's directive on courthouse enforcement and the resulting enforcement activities have had a profound chilling effect that has hindered California's ability to enforce the law and protect public safety. In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Attorney General Bonta asserts that these immigration arrests, and the directive authorizing them, are arbitrary and capricious, exceed the agency's enforcement authority, and violate the U.S. Constitution.

"The Trump Administration has systematically made our communities less safe with its insidious and unlawful enforcement actions in and around California courthouses," said Attorney General Bonta. "We've seen serious criminal charges dropped and entire cases jeopardized because victims and witnesses are too scared to come to the courthouse to testify. Our justice system cannot function this way. There is good reason that the common law, dating back centuries, bars civil arrests at courthouses. I'm deeply troubled that, today, we're going to court for the 100th time in less than two years to enforce the law. This is a sobering milestone. Our state's courts should be where justice is served - not disrupted or denied."

Since ICE changed its policy in late May 2025, immigration enforcement in and around California state courthouses has spiked. In the year that followed the policy change, the average monthly number of ICE arrests in and around California courthouses increased by more than 550% compared to prior months, with immigration enforcement actions occurring across the state, from the largest urban centers, like Los Angeles and San Diego, to rural courthouses in Shasta, Butte, and Glenn Counties. Although ICE's directive was vacated in late June 2026 in Pablo Sequen v. Albarran, ICE's enforcement actions at California's courts did not stop. In June 2026, when more robust data collection began, there were 34 enforcement incidents reported at superior courts statewide, resulting in 30 civil arrests. In July, after ICE's directive was vacated, there were 28 reported incidents, resulting in 28 civil arrests. These types of enforcement actions at California's courts continued throughout the summer and into the fall.

ICE's enforcement actions at courthouses are conducted unannounced, often by unidentified, plain-clothed officers. These officers have apprehended court attendees in hallways, lobbies, and parking lots of the state's courthouses. Sometimes they follow their target from the courtroom; other times they apprehend the individual before they reach the courtroom. They have also been reported to wait in the court parking lot in certain counties for days on end, seeking to apprehend individuals who are coming to or from the courthouse. Notably, ICE's most recent written courthouse enforcement directive does not limit who is subject to arrest - it can be anyone from a criminal defendant to a victim to individuals merely present to conduct civic business or accompany a family member. These enforcement actions have caused substantial harm, including by stymying criminal prosecutions, impeding California's ability to provide access to justice, and disrupting court operations.

In today's lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, Attorney General Bonta argues that ICE's directive authorizing widespread immigration enforcement at courthouses is:

• Arbitrary and Capricious in Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA): ICE failed to consider the chilling effect on access to justice and the overall functioning of state judicial systems resulting from its directive. ICE in its most recent written directive also failed to acknowledge or provide a reasoned explanation for removing an earlier restriction that barred courthouse enforcement in jurisdictions where it was prohibited.
• In Excess of Statutory Authority in Violation of the APA: The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was enacted against the backdrop of the centuries-old common law privilege that precluded civil arrests at courthouses. Congress is understood to have incorporated that privilege into the INA and thereby withheld authority for immigration officers to make civil arrests at courthouses.
• Contrary to Constitutional Right, Power, Privilege, or Immunity in Violation of the APA: The states' judicial and police powers are powers that the U.S. Constitution reserves to the states under the Tenth Amendment. ICE's actions interfere with California's execution of its core sovereign judicial and police functions by infringing on California's ability to maintain and operate a judicial system, prosecute crimes, and carry out related police powers.
• In Violation of the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: ICE's directive and its courthouse enforcement infringe on California's sovereign powers and interfere with the execution of its sovereign duties.

Attorney General Bonta is committed to holding ICE accountable and standing up for California's immigrant communities. Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta filed a lawsuit seeking to block the illegal development of an ICE facility in unincorporated Santa Clara County near Gilroy, California. Attorney General Bonta previously led amicus briefs in supporting Minnesota's lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's extraordinary campaign of lawlessness during its deployment of ICE, in opposing unlawful immigration stops in the Central Valley, and to stop ICE and Customs and Border Protection from engaging in unlawful practices in Los Angeles.

In May, Attorney General Bonta released the California Department of Justice's fifth report on cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable conditions at immigration detention facilities operating in California. He also filed an amicus brief opposing the conditions of confinement at Adelanto ICE Processing Center and sent a letter to the DHS shining a light on dangerous conditions at the recently reopened California City Detention Facility.