The Immigrant Defence Project is an organization that provides legal advice, advocacy, and other resources for immigrant communities. In January of 2018, the IDP released a study titled “The Courthouse Trap: How ICE Operations Impacted New York’s Courts in 2018”. While the study’s focus is on courts in New York State, the fourteen-page document also provided an abundance of data on how Immigration Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) has expanded arrests, surveillance, and operations overall under the Trump administration. It also included disturbing details on some of the more violent tactics I.C.E has used on the public.
The report highlights six significant changes in I.C.E courthouse operations in the year of 2018. They include more arrests, a higher physical presence in NY courts, targeting several upstate counties that had not been previously targeted, an increase in overall violence and brutality in arrests, targeting more vulnerable members of the immigrant community (such as victims of human trafficking), refusing to provide information during the majority of operations, and expanding the reach of courthouse arrests.
All these changes were documented the same year that a policy on transparency during I.C.E arrests and detainment was issued. Despite this policy being issued by I.C.E itself, the report points out that it was often ignored. For example, part of the policy requires I.C.E officers to answer basic questions, clearly identify themselves during arrests, and provide information on justification for arrests. However, the report has already shown that one of the major changes observed is the fact that I.C.E has been refusing to provide information to those they arrest, even going so far as appearing in plainclothes with their badges hidden. I.C.E officers would also make arrests in both civil and criminal courts, where family members of arrestees would be targeted as well. Again, this goes directly against their own regulations. This demonstrates that oftentimes police and court officers are not only allowing I.C.E officers to break their policy under their watch, they’re fully collaborating with them.
The statistical data provided in the report reinforces the notion that I.C.E operations have become more emboldened under the Trump Administration. The total of arrests carried out by I.C.E has skyrocketed from 2016 to 2018 and courthouse operations overall have increased a staggering 1700%. Westchester County had the highest amount of reported arrests outside of NYC in 2018. Within New York City, Brooklyn had both the highest number of ICE arrests and sightings, followed closely by Queens. The findings detailed in the report are based on collaborations from both legal and community-based organizations throughout New York State.
The most unsettling portion of the report to read through is the second half, titled “Trends”. Instead of raw numbers and charts, this half of the report contains individual retellings of incidence involving I.C.E’s use of force, targeting of vulnerable populations in the immigrant community, increased surveillance, and other abuses. From assaulting a pregnant attorney to causing panic and confusion in public with plainclothes kidnappings, the list of misconduct seems unending.
In Yonkers, there was a situation with an immigrant woman who was a survivor of domestic violence, with no prior criminal history appeared for a hearing. All charges against this individual were dismissed, yet just after the hearing came to a close, a court or jail officer re-arrested her and held her in a cell until I.C.E picked her up. Here we see a specific example of the collaboration between courthouse police officers and I.C.E. In another situation, I.C.E targeted a twenty-year-old individual who had submitted an application for a special visa for abused minors.
At this point, it’s clear that I.C.E is not following their already-weak policies and regulations designed to check their power. While many courthouses have closed down during the pandemic, the I.C.E immigration raids have continued, with one of the largest single-state operations taking place in early August. While deportations have declined since April, those still in detention centers face a particularly great risk of coronavirus infection.
As we’ve seen from psychological findings from studies such as the Stanford Prison Experiment and the near-constant continuation of police brutality incidents throughout our history, it’s more evident than ever that unchecked power given to a uniformed group over vulnerable people will continue to beget increased violence and unnecessary deaths in society.
You can learn more about the IDP’s mission to get I.C.E out of NY courthouses by visiting their website.