Eyewitnesses say that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are once again detaining asylum seekers outside of a federal immigration court in Phoenix.
Plainclothes officers made dozens of arrests outside of the court house last week. An ICE spokesman said the agency is arresting people eligible for expedited removal, a decades-old program that allows officials to fast-track deportations for people who have been in the country for less than two years.
Immigrant rights advocates and protesters accused federal prosecutors in Phoenix and other courts around the country of asking immigration judges to dismiss asylum cases in order to pave the way for deportations under expedited removal.
“America promises to the rest of the world that we are a place of safety and refuge,” said state Sen. Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix), who observed multiple asylum hearings at the court. “So for them to turn around, first give people the false promise of a dismissal and saying you're free to go and then detain them, is cruel and inhumane and tramples upon the very promise of what the United States of America should be.”
ICE appeared to cease making arrests outside the Phoenix court after immigrant advocates and protesters drew attention to the operations.
But Ricardo Reyes with veteran organization Common Defense said he witnessed ICE resume those operations on Wednesday.
“They’re not doing it here anymore, because obviously that was a bad look, so now they’re just waiting and pulling them over,” he said.
Reyes said he witnessed ICE agents down the street from the courthouse pull over a car carrying a woman after a judge dismissed her asylum case.
“They went into the neighborhood,” Reyes said. “They took this lady and her child. The child couldn’t be more than 3 or 4 years old.”
An ICE spokesperson declined to confirm the arrest or that the agency had resumed operations outside of the Phoenix Immigration Court.
“For operational security and for the safety of our law enforcement personnel and removal operation, ICE does not confirm or discuss ongoing or future operations,” the spokesman said in a statement.
The spokesman did confirm the agency is arresting immigrants it believes qualify for expedited removals.
“ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been,” according to the statement. “If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.”
A person whose asylum case is dismissed can appeal that decision, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
However, Ortiz, the state senator, said many of the people she witnessed go through the court did not have attorneys, because individuals going through immigration court do not have a right to counsel.
“So many of them are in there without an attorney, without any information about what their rights are,” Ortiz said.
Lawmakers press DHS for answers on ICE arrests
Congressional lawmakers from Arizona are asking DHS for more information about a recent string of ICE arrests outside the Phoenix Immigration Court.
Dozens of immigrants were arrested last week after having their cases dismissed. ICE says they’re eligible for a fast-tracked deportation process that’s normally only used along the border.
In a letter to DHS, Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego and Reps. Yassamin Ansari and Greg Stanton say immigrants with no criminal record are being targeted, despite following the law by showing up for their court dates. They say the arrests have failed to make communities safer — and questions about their legality have so far gone unanswered.
They’re asking to be briefed on how ICE is upholding its statutory responsibilities while conducting arrests by June 3.
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