ICE arrests migrants at courthouses, opens door to fast-track deportations

Federal immigration officials arrested dozens of immigrants following their immigration court hearings in multiple U.S. cities this week, in operations that advocates said appeared to target people who had been in the country for less than two years.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained migrants at courthouses in New York City, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Seattle, according to family members, attorneys and news reports.

In Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday and Wednesday, ICE arrested several people outside the immigration court. Among them, Geovanni Francisco and his mother from Guerrero, Mexico, who entered the country legally in 2023, after making an appointment using the Biden-era CBP One app, according to his aunt Hilda Ramirez.

Their case was dismissed Wednesday morning, records show.

“They didn’t even give them a chance to gather their things,” said Ramirez, who accompanied her sister and nephew to their hearing.